Raouf Rifai

Raouf Rifai is a Lebanese artist who has exhibited his work throughout Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and Japan. His art is influenced by Impressionism and Expressionism, and he often uses abstract symbols with references to Middle Eastern cultural heritage. Rifai’s recurring themes include pollution, social relationships, and the relationship between material and spiritual. He has a series of works featuring the “Dervish,” a simple man evolving in virtual or real spaces. He has had over 30 solo exhibitions since 1984, and his work has been auctioned at Christie’s Dubai and Ayam Gallery in Dubai. In 2010, he was awarded the first prize of the Sursock Museum’s Salon d’Automne in Beirut, Lebanon.