Ink, Stains, Shape

A visit to Ali Kaaf

Ali Kaaf grew up in Syria and has lived in Berlin for over 20 years. Today he invited us to his studio in Berlin-Neukölln. His studio used to be just a garage, but now it's the space where he feels at home. This is where his ideas become art.

He prefers to use paper, "because paper is fragile", he says. He paints many spots with a brush and black ink, which together create an abstract form. In some pictures he even burns holes, which then become part of the artwork. Abstract means that you cannot recognise any particular figures, faces or things in his paintings. But we always thought we could see something in them, for example a starry sky or a seashore from above or even a hot dog. 

Ali Kaaf not only makes pictures, but also sculptures out of glass and he makes short films. For him, the most important aspect of art is to take a risk. For him, free art means trying something new, even if he doesn't know if it will turn out well. Ali Kaaf understands the production process and the many failed attempts as necessary steps on the way to the goal.

He tells us a vivid story about this: Once upon a time there was an emperor in ancient China. He owned a rooster that was so beautiful that he wanted to have a picture of it. So he commissioned a painter. The painter said that he would need a whole year to do the drawing. After a year, the emperor called him and demanded to see the picture. The painter asked for paper, ink and brushes. Within a few minutes, he painted the emperor's rooster as perfectly and beautifully as the real rooster. But the emperor was angry, why did he have to wait a whole year for it? So the painter took him into his studio. The room was covered with thousands of preliminary sketches of the rooster. It was only through these exercises that the painter was able to wield the brush so confidently at the end. 

For Ali Kaaf, all attempts beforehand are never in vain, but a part of his art, which is always evolving.