Fêla Kefi Leroux Carthage, b. 1944

Fêla Kefi Leroux is a Franco-Tunisian artist born in Carthage whose career has unfolded between Tunis and Paris since the early 1960s. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Tunis in the wake of the influential École de Tunis movement, she studied under major figures including Safia Farhat, Mahmoud Shili and Abdelaziz Gorgi. Recognized early for her talent, she received the Tunisian Presidential Prize of Excellence as well as several national distinctions for her work in ceramics and decorative arts.

Belonging to the first generation of Tunisian artists trained after independence, Kefi Leroux developed a distinctive practice spanning painting, drawing, ceramics and decorative arts. Drawing inspiration from Tunisian popular culture, everyday traditions and the human figure, her work combines modernist experimentation with a deep engagement with the visual heritage of the Maghreb.

In the mid-1960s, she continued her studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and, in 1966, participated in the First World Festival of Negro Arts (FESMAN) in Dakar under the patronage of President Léopold Sédar Senghor. As one of the first Tunisian women artists to take part in this landmark event, she positioned her practice within broader international conversations on modernity, identity and cultural decolonization.

Living and working between Tunisia and France, she pursued a parallel career in interior design while maintaining a sustained artistic practice focused on drawing, painting and the representation of the human figure. Her portraits, nudes and scenes of everyday life reflect a deeply humanist approach shaped by questions of presence, memory and interiority.

Long overlooked within dominant narratives of modern Tunisian art, Kefi Leroux’s work has recently gained renewed attention through the research of art historian Jessica Gerschultz, notably in her publication Decorative Arts of the Tunisian École, whose cover features Kefi Leroux’s ceramic work L’Agriculture (1964). Her work has recently been presented in major international exhibitions, including at Columbia University’s Wallach Art Gallery in New York and Museum Arnhem. Her works are held in several public and private collections, notably the Barjeel Art Foundation and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.