Join the Fine Arts Gallery and the AUP community on Thursday, 20 October at 6pm for a vernissage and exhibition titled Dancing with Luck by Iranian-American artist Rafael Mahdavi. The vernissage on Thursday is followed by an exhibition that lasts through November 7th.
Rafael Mahdavi was born in 1946 in Mexico of an American mother and Iranian father. He was home schooled in Mallorca and later attended board boarding schools in London, Madrid and Vienna. He finished art school in the U.S., and fled to Paris to avoid being sent to fight in Vietnam. He speaks five languages not including Catalan, has held various jobs ranging from bar tender in Pigalle to university professor, and has three passports. He has exhibited his paintings and sculptures internationally, with gallery and museum solo shows. He now divides his time between Burgundy and the Aegean islands.
In the paintings Dancing With Luck Rafael Mahdavi has tried to summarize what he has learned about painting since he left art school fifty odd years ago. These paintings, more than ever, generate meaningful meaning. Start with yourself, he told himself. Make up situations, tell stories, make them filmic and enigmatic. To find out more about Rafael and his work, take a look at his website.
The book Dancing With Luck, accompanying the exhibition at AUP, includes not only the nine paintings, but also sonnets by Rory Brennan, and texts by David Galloway and Jonathan Shimony. Rory Brennan will read a few sonnets at the opening.