Amorous Color, Mazen Rifai
Lebanese artist Mazen al-Rifai is deeply connected to the modernist landscape tradition, with his work sitting firmly within this artistic lineage. His paintings capture the essence of a specific light, with a particular focus on Baalbek, distilling the place into abstracted forms. There is a careful interplay between color and shade, light and dark, soft and hard, which imbues his work with depth and reflects the complexity of the subtle shifts he strives to depict. One side of the canvas may be warm, while another is cool; one line dissolves into a layer beneath, and another extends outward at the edge, maintaining its status as an edge. Layers of paint beckon the eye but remain mostly concealed, offering only glimpses of depth, with the careful build-up of paint becoming apparent through the edges of forms as they transform.
In his maturity as an artist, Rifai has ventured into new territory, carrying with him a strong sense of his origins, along with an intriguing vision for the future. His current work moves beyond pure landscape, while still carrying the light and colors that continually reference the land of his heart, the Bekaa Valley. Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that Rifai is reaching toward the human experience—soft and hard, body and soul. In some paintings, jewel-like forms contrast sharply with the softness and subtlety of others. At times, the duality of soft and hard coexists within the same painting, and Rifai appears to be pushing toward a new dimension, where forms take on fresh, unexpected meanings and shapes.
Mazen Rifai (b. 1957) was born in Baalbek and currently lives and works in Beirut, Lebanon. He holds a degree in interior architecture from the Lebanese University in Beirut and a degree in Fine Arts from the Academia de Macerta in Italy. From 1987 to 1993, he was a professor of fine arts and the head of the department at the Lebanese University. He is also an art director at the firm Engineers, Consulting & Contracting. Since 1981, Rifai has held numerous solo exhibitions in Beirut and Paris, including at venues such as Epreuve d’Artiste, Galerie Rochane, Galerie Aida Cherfan, Gallery 6, Agial Art Gallery, Galerie 34 Bonaparte, and Galerie Alex Menem. He has also participated in several editions of the Sursock Museum’s Salon d’Automne since 1974. In 1984, Rifai contributed to the Beirut Central District Reconstruction Plan with Oger Liban and is a member of the Baalbeck International Festival Committee. He has published two books: Baalbeck in Black and White (Dar Al-Nahar, 2007) and Baalbeck 1981-2011 (Fine Arts Publishing, 2011).
