aab ~ water

second level, aab ~ water

aab ~ water

Paintings & Installation
2014-2018


As is always the case in Ahmad Rafi’s multi-layered and complex artistic posi­tion, it didn‘t remain a purely natural reflection. He engaged with a traditional philosophical concept that interprets flowing water as the embodiment of hu­man existence and as a symbol of time passing. The pre-Socratic philosopher Heraklit (ca, 550 – 480 BC) compared everything ‘being’ to the flowing river and said: „One cannot step into the same river twice.“

For Heraklit flowing water was also emblematic of the transitoriness of everything earthly. “Panta rhei” – everything flows, nothing stays the same. In the middle of this analysis Ahmad Rafi decided to take a trip to Lampedusa, the largest of the Pelagie Islands, situated between Tunisia and Sicily, in the Mediterranean Sea.

book series – water paintings

Installation view, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, 2016
Book objects, 14 pieces, each: 27 x 20 x 4 cm

water painting canvas

Installation view, Montez, 2018
Oil on canvas, 2017/2018, 77 x 100 cm

water paintings on canvas blue

Installation view, Montez, 2018
Oil on canvas, 2017/2018, 77 x 114 cm

Oil on canvas with neon light

Installation view, Montez, 2018
2016 – 2018, 150 x 200 cm

These two large formats stand out in the series, with daylight neon tubes across the paintings to achieve the desired light effect .

Video installation
“In the Flow of Things”

The fifteen minute video installation “In the Flow of Things” is almost an inevi­table result of all the previous indications. The circulation of water is complete. The video installation leads us back to Alt-Fechenheim on the river Main. It was filmed parallel to the making of the paintings, and addresses his own personal experiences and views.