In the early nineties, ideas that had been ricocheting in my mind for a number of years began to line up and make sense to me as a painter. Particularly Wittgenstein’s idea (the private language argument) that meaningful language can only be public struck me as not only profound but obvious. Private language is an oxymoron, as is the idea of personal/private painting. If painting is to communicate anything and be in the world of people looking at painting, it must be about something other than itself. These ideas made me take a hard look at my work since New York. In the late nineties I started to cull the beginnings of a visual and recognizable alphabet from that era: shoes as home, posts as demarcation in a landscape, the body as landscape. The broken sun- glasses represent the idea that some images are shattering, and the camera symbolizes painting’s nemesis. I continued to elaborate and implement this visual alphabet in my painting: Braille representing touch and the opposites, sight and blindness. Shells as a personal music; water as the absence of taste; the dog as fidelity and poverty. The diver/leaper represents the plunge into the unknown, the leap of faith.
“L’amour Fou”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“X-Ray Sculpture”
1992 155x153cm acrylic and oil on canvas “Villa Dolores”
1995 132x198cm acrylic on canvas“Torso Sculpture”
1993 155x153cm acrylic on canvas “Torso Map”
1993 155x153cm acrylic on canvas“Torso Leaves”
1993 155x153cm acrylic on canvas“Through the Curtain”
1998 132x198cm acrylic on canvas“Teddy Bear”
1991“Spanish Braille Landscape”
2000 160x198cm acrylic, oil and photo-transfer on canvas“Silencio Dog”
1997 200x160cm acrylic and photographic gel transfer on canvas “Shoes:Cut-Out”
1993 155x153cm acrylic and oil on canvas “Roma”
1994 228x153cm “Respira”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Portrait, Mirror”
1994 228x153cm “Poker”
1995 135x199cm acrylic on canvas photo transfer“Paysage with Shell”
1997 155x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas private collection“Paysage Mexican”
1994 228x153cm “Paisaje en un Dedo”
1998 149x149cm“Paisaje al Reves”
1999-2000 147x147cm
“Painter’s Things”
1997 130x168cm acrylic on canvas private collection“Oscuridad”
1997 130x160cm acrylic on canvas and photo transfer“NYC Interior”
1991 151x127cm acrylic on canvas“Mis Libros”
1998 129x158cm“Milton”
1997 130x160cm acrylic on canvas and photo transfer“Magic Spiral”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Lung X-Ray”
1992-93 155x153cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Lorca Diver”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Lorca Birthday”
1997 200x160cm acrylic on canvas “Lorca”
2000 129x158cm“Locust”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Like This”
1995 140x210cm acrylic on canvas photo transfer“Leaper Tulip”
1995 126x189cm acrylic on canvas photo transfer“Landscape with Dog”
1995 126x198cm acrylic on canvas, photo transfer“Landscape St. Cloud”
1993 155x153cm acrylic on canvas“Landscape St. Cloud”
1993 155x153cm acrylic on canvas“Landscape, Dog, Butterfly, Crucifixion”
1995 128x199cm acrylic on canvas“Lace Bird”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Icarus Landscape ”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Heaven and Earth”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Hand of God”
1999 161x202cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Eye”
1997 156x199cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Exilio Shell”
1998 159x127cm acrylic on canvas“Exilio”
1997 130x160cm acrylic on canvas private collection“Estudio con Mano y Choncha”
2000 98x98cm
“Duende”
2000 98x98cm
“Dog’s Dream”
1991 151x127cm acrylic on canvas
“Dogs and Shoes in a Landscape”
1997 130x160cm acrylic on canvas private collection“Dog Christ”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Diamond Dog”
1995 131x196cm acrylic on canvas“Concert in Braille”
1997 130x160cm acrylic on canvas and photo transfer“Brujo Icarus”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Brujo Clamp Landscape”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas “Brujo Bird Camera”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Braille Landscape”
1997 “Agua Lace Hand ”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Agua Diver”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas
“Agua Clamp”
2001 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas“Agua”
1999 160x200cm acrylic and oil on canvas private collection, London
“Accident”
1991 191x205cm acrylic on canvas
“Accident”
1991 192x207cm acrylic on canvas
rafaelmahdavi.wordpress.com 