Raouf Rifai
Circus, 2012
Acrylic on canvas
185 x 350 cm (72 7/8 x 137 3/4 in.)
RAR0040
Raouf Rifai
Karakouz, 2012
Acrylic on canvas
100 x 100 cm (39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
RAR0037
Raouf Rifai
Pirate Clown, 2012
Acrylic on canvas
100 x 100 cm (39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
RAR0038
Raouf Rifai
Astrologues, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
130 x 150 cm (51 1/8 x 59 in.)
RAR0031
Raouf Rifai
Darawichs, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
140 x 180 cm (55 1/8 x 70 7/8 in.)
RAR0018
Raouf Rifai
Darwich, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
150 x 150 cm (59 x 59 in.)
RAR0029
Raouf Rifai
DARWICH D IVOIRE Ivory Darwich?, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
150 x 150 cm (59 x 59 in.)
RAR0023
Raouf Rifai
Darwich Grafity, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
175 x 150 cm (68 7/8 x 59 in.)
RAR0030
Raouf Rifai
Florescent Clowns, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
150 x 185 cm (59 x 72 7/8 in.)
RAR0034
Raouf Rifai
Happy Family, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
140 x 180 cm (55 1/8 x 70 7/8 in.)
RAR0035
Raouf Rifai
The Circus, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
189 x 180 cm (74 3/8 x 70 7/8 in.)
RAR0033
Raouf Rifai
The King & The Darwich, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
150 x 180 cm (59 x 70 7/8 in.)
RAR0036
Raouf Rifai
The Wedding Gift, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
115 x 230 cm (45 1/4 x 90 1/2 in.)
RAR0019
Raouf Rifai
Darwish, 2009
Acrylic on canvas
100 x 100 cm (39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
RAR0007
Raouf Rifai
Darwish, 2009
Acrylic on canvas
120 x 120 cm (47 1/4 x 47 1/4 in.)
RAR0008
Raouf Rifai
Darwish, 2009
Acrylic on canvas
120 x 100 cm (47 1/4 x 39 3/8 in.)
RAR0009
Raouf Rifai
Tele Darwish, 2009
Acrylic on canvas
100 x 100 cm (39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
RAR0011
Raouf Rifai
Young Bride, 2006
Acrylic on canvas
120 x 80 cm (47 1/4 x 31 1/2 in.)
RAR0027
Raouf Rifai, a Lebanese artist born in 1954 has managed over the years to distinguish himself as one of the leading contemporary painters of today. He paints canvases that are born out of a compelling combination of figuration and abstraction that he achieves by saturating his canvases with colour and formal simplification. Instead of brush strokes, Rifai drips and rolls his paint, layering saturated surfaces with grids of wavering lines, creating compositions that tend toward the definition of a new visual language.
Like many artists, Rifai finds inspiration in his surroundings, but specifically, by the many issues that surround his community; “My art is always orientated towards humanity, it’s a natural response against the cruel circumstances of my society where I witness this reality on a daily basis”.
His work shifts between the worlds of reality and fantasy and are guided by emotion; “I like to work quickly, impulsively. My work is about emotions and the moment. Oil takes too long to dry. It makes me lose the feeling. So I work with acrylic”.
His solo exhibition ‘Interlude..’ includes works from Rifai’s two series Circus of Life and Darawish. Both series convey sarcasm, irony and surreal vision whilst using figures from Lebanese popular culture – Caracoz, Bahloul, Jeha, the Darwish and Akhwat Shanai; “My art is about my own perception of what’s occurring around me and my Middle Eastern community. The Middle East in its reality resembles a cricus, or a theatrical play, you have your heroes and villains, monsters and angels, as we as the brave and the coward”.
Darawich leaves us wondering whether he is commenting on the spiritual Sufi dervish or the darwish; the country peasant who time has left behind. The two series interact with each other as the darwish acts as the innocent observer, caught unawares by the dramatic happenings of the circus that the Middle East has become - with its animals, macho men and real-life clowns in all their variations – the sad, the weak and the cowardly.
The works are parodies that suggest that the Middle East has become a stage, replete with performers and audience, and that the unfolding events are nothing but a tragically amusing farcical interlude…
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