Exhibition: Moden Gallery “Tomorrow”. 2023, Irfan Ajvazi, Paris, Franc

In Gilles Deleuze’s book “The Logic of Sensation,” he challenges the conventional notion of the artist starting with a blank canvas before creation. Instead, he emphasizes the multitude of pre-existing images already present on the canvas, labeling them as clichés or snapshots. This perspective sheds light on the painter’s task of “emptying, decluttering, and cleansing” the canvas, removing elements before adding anything.

Ajvazi echoes this sentiment in his approach: “A painting achieves completion when there’s nothing more to eliminate.” His method involves overlaying to eliminate extraneous elements, striving to retain only the essential components. Drawing inspiration from mundane urban scenes and conspicuous elements in his surroundings, he seeks relevant symbols to provoke contemplation in the viewer. His paintings reflect a keen observation of life, creating visual narratives where figurative scenes coalesce with a minimalist treatment of forms, juxtaposing realism with the surrounding pictorial space.