Born in Tunisia (North Africa) in February 1967, Marwen’s earliest memories of the creative process are of himself sitting at a school desk at the age of six or seven, drawing on pieces of paper. Other members of his family are also artistically inclined.

He lived in Tunisia until the age of sixteen, then moved to Paris, France to finish high school and to attend the renown architecture school Beaux Arts.

Even though he has been influenced by many artists from several different movements, he feels that his cultural background has given him the greatest inspiration, being born and raised in Tunisia. This North African country is boarded by the Meditterranean sea, right in the middle of a melting pot of civilizations: Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman, African, Arab, Muslim, Andalousian, and European, especially French.

Marwen taught himself painting in the same way someone teaches himself or herself a musical instrument. A mixture of influences taken from all his favorite artists and working from his own individual observations. By observing he has developed his own style, which progresses as logic dictates, fostering harmony between what’s been done and what’s to come.

When Marwen paints, his primary concern is color and content. He loves the conflict between rushes of vibrant color and bold, stark lines. Color gives roundness to a surface, depth in the feeling of a surface, color is the rhythm, from a mood of a picture.

When he paints he try to make the ordinary more extraordinary, each work being a feeling of his personal state of mind at that time. He has always been fascinated by humanity, the erotic and sensual nature of life, the religious and spiritual side of human beings, the tragedies of people, and the urge to carry on regardless. Spending so much time intellectualizing or planning a painting is his last concern. His work is spontaneous and symbolic, it gives the viewers a freedom of imagination and an open interpretation.

Marwen is very open to new techniques and new media. Lately, he has been experiencing with photography and digital art and will continue to do so.