1. Verve 1  I  100 x 150 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

2. Verve 2  I  100 x 150 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

3. Verve 3  I  100 x 150 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

4. Verve 4  I  100 x 150 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

5. Verve 5  I  100 x 150 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

6. Verve 6  I  100 x 150 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

7. Verve 7  I  100 x 150 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

In his abstract-scriptural ink drawings, too, Aatifi combines classical stylistic elements and the richness of light and colour of Afghanistan with modern European art. As in his paintings, the ink works on paper focus on light and colour, depth and space, power and dynamism. Bright shades of violet and pink with expressive elements paired with lively lines characterise the 2023 series 'Verve'. The works stand for buoyancy and lightness, for powerful as well as filigree compositions and bright colours. (maba)

1. Verve 1  I  55 x 65 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 300g  I  Aatifi 2023

2. Verve 8  I 55 x 65 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 300g  I  Aatifi 2023

3. Verve 11  I  55 x 65 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 300g  I  Aatifi 2023

4. Verve 15  I  55 x 65 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 300g  I  Aatifi 2023

5. Verve 17  I  55 x 65 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 300g  I  Aatifi 2023

6. Verve 19  I  55 x 65 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 300g  I  Aatifi 2023

7. Verve 21  I  75 x 80 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

8. Verve 1  I  75 x 90 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

9. Verve 5  I  75 x 90 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

10. Verve 11  I  75 x 90 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

11. Verve 14  I  75 x 90 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

12. Verve 19  I  75 x 90 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2023

Trained as a calligrapher for more than a decade and a half in his native city of Kandahar, Aatifi cultivated early on an experimental approach to classical styles and tradition-bound material, mixing his inks with spices and other additives and developing calligraphy to the point where he finally rid it of any content. As in painting, Aatifi develops his own tools for his ink drawings – broad ’feathers’ that, following the calligraphic duct, bring the form applied in one stroke onto the paper in the desired colour intensity, sometimes opaque, sometimes transparent. (maba)

1. Verve 5  I  80 x 100 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2022

2. Verve 6  I  80 x 100 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2022

3. Verve 7  I  80 x 100 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2022

4. Verve 8  I  80 x 100 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2022

5. Verve 9  I  80 x 100 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2022

6. Verve 10  I  80 x 100 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2022

7. Verve 11  I  80 x 100 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2022

8. Verve 12  I  80 x 100 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2022

In Aatifi’s work, the colour blue stands for Afghanistan’s high-quality lapis lazuli deposits and refers to the important role lapis lazuli plays in Afghan history. It also characterises the ink drawings from the series 'Verve' of 2018 and 2019 in all their gradations from ultramarine to petrol to pale blue. The pictorial compositions with their reduced forms, sweeping lines and excessive splashes develop an expansive effect. (maba)

1. Verve 18  I  50 x 60 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2019

2. Verve 22  I  50 x 60 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2019

3. Verve 24  I  50 x 60 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2019

4. Verve 25  I  50 x 60 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2019

5. Verve 28  I  50 x 60 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2019

6. Verve 31  I  50 x 60 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2019

7. Verve 33  I  50 x 60 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2019

8. Verve 37  I  50 x 60 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2019

9. Verve 39  I  50 x 60 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2019

1. Verve 1  I  Black, Anthracite  I  80 x 65 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 356g  I  Aatifi 2018

2. Verve 4  I  Violet, Magenta, Pink  I  75 x 90 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2018

3. Verve 6  I  Dark blue, Turquoise blue  I  65 x 80 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 356g  I  Aatifi 2018

4. Verve 7  I  Dark blue, Turquoise blue  I  65 x 80 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 356g  I  Aatifi 2018

5. Verve 9  I  Violet, Magenta, Pink  I  75 x 90 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2018

6. Verve 10  I  Dark blue, Turquoise blue  I  65 x 80 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 356g  I  Aatifi 2018

7. Verve 12  I  Violet, Magenta, Pink  I  75 x 90 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 640g  I  Aatifi 2018

8. Verve 13  I  Dark blue, Turquoise blue  I  65 x 80 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 356g  I  Aatifi 2018

9. Verve 18  I  Dark blue, Turquoise blue  I  65 x 80 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 356g  I  Aatifi 2018

10. Verve 20  I  Dark blue, Turquoise blue  I  65 x 80 cm  I  Ink on laid paper 356g  I  Aatifi 2018

In 2016 and 2017, Aatifi combined hard metal that reflects and changes depending on the incidence of light, and strong hatchings and organic forms applied with soft graphite, combined with dynamic ink elements in black, anthracite, black-blue or rust-brown as well as bright colours such as red, magenta and violet, to form powerful abstract collages. The use of metal in the works on handmade paper can also be understood as a reference to Afghanistan’s rich mineral resources such as the aluminium ore bauxite or copper, lithium, iron and gold. (maba)

1. Untitled, violet  I  65 x 75 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

2. Untitled, violet  I  65 x 75 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite, frottage on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

3. Untitled, violet  I  65 x 75 cm  I  Ink, metal on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

4. Untitled, blue  I  75 x 65 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

5. Untitled, red, pink  I  75 x 75 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

6. Untitled, violet  I  75 x 90 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite, chalk on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

7. Untitled, red, pink  I  75 x 90 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite, chalk on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

8. Untitled, red  I  100 x 150 cm  I  Ink, metal, chalk on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

9. Untitled, red  I  100 x 150 cm  I  Ink, metal, chalk on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

10. Untitled, blue  I  65 x 95 cm  I  Ink, metal, graphite on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

11. Untitled  I  65 x 85 cm  I  Ink, metal, paper form, graphite on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

12. Untitled  I  65 x 85 cm  I  Ink, metal, paper form, graphite on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

13. Untitled  I  65 x 85 cm  I  Ink, paper form, graphite on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2017

At the end of 2015 and in 2016, another series of works was added, under the title 'Osmosis', in which Aatifi refined his use of ink and further reduced the abstracted lines and forms. ‘Osmosis, which is actually a biological or chemical process, represents for me in my drawings the penetration of the liquid ink into the paper structures and the resulting liveliness of the forms,’ Aatifi explains’, ‘so liquid becomes something alive. I sometimes think the form almost breathes.’

1. Untitled  I  80 x 90 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2016

2. Osmosis, black blue  I  80 x 95 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2016

3. Untitled  I  60 x 70 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2016

4. Untitled  I  60 x 70 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2016

5. Osmosis, red orange  I  60 x 70 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2016

6. Osmosis, black blue  I  80 x 95 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2016

7. Osmosis 6, black blue  I  95 x 80 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2016

8. Osmosis 10, black blue  I  80 x 95 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2016

9. Osmosis 9, black blue  I  80 x 95 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2016

10. Osmosis 19, black blue  I  80 x 95 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2016

11. Osmosis I 95 x 80 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2016

Untitled  I  100 x 90 und 100 x 150 cm (2pcs)  I  Ink, metal, graphite on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2016

In his Bielefeld studio, the artist resumed working with ink in the course of preparing his solo exhibition Aatifi – News from Afghanistan at Berlin’s Pergamonmuseum, Germany in the summer of 2015. The series of works for the large museum exhibition was preceded by a phase of experimentation with papers and inks from various German and French manufacturers carried out until the appropriate handmade paper and colours with rich pigmentation and intense luminosity were found.

From the 2015 series of works, Aatifi presented more than a dozen sheets in 60 by 70 cm format in the Buchkunstkabinett in the Museum für Islamische Kunst  in Berlin’s Pergamonmuseum. In addition to large-format paintings and etchings, six of the ink drawings on display have become part of the Museum für Islamische Kunst im Pergamonmuseum/Staatliche Museen zu Berlin/Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz collection, which has been expanded to include contemporary art for the first time with the addition of Aatifi. (maba)

zur Ausstellungsseite Aatifi – News from Afghanistan

1. Untitled  I  80 x 80 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015

2. Untitled 7, blue  I  60 x 78 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015

3. Untitled 6, blue  I  60 x 78 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015

4. Untitled 1, black blue  I  60 x 78 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015

5. Untitled 2, black blue  I  60 x 78 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015

6. Untitled, violet  I  60 x 70 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015

7. Untitled 1, violet  I  60 x 70 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015

8. Untitled 1, red  I  60 x 70 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015

9. Untitled 2, red  I  60 x 70 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015

10. Untitled 15, red  I  60 x 70 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015

11. Untitled 11, black blue  I  60 x 78 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015

12. Untitled 14, blue  I  60 x 78 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015

 13. Untitled 13, blue  I  60 x 78 cm  I  Ink on laid paper  I  Aatifi 2015