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130
Ahmed Mater, Sajdah Illumination, 2009

Chapter: Seelenfenster - Gesture, Movement, Cipher

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Something fragile, existentially human
In his series Illumination, the Saudi Arabian physician and artist Ahmed Mater combines conceptual thinking, faith, and science. Inspired by traditional Islamic manuscript art, he employs calligraphy and traditional materials such as gold leaf, tea, pomegranate, and coffee, alongside X-rays of the human body, to create a uniquely intimate effect. Sajda Illumination refers to the spiritual light and deep connection achieved in Islam through sajda (prostration) and prayer. Mater overlays prayers, Quranic verses, and magical formulas, such as protective incantations, onto X-ray images of skeletons, which, stripped of all other representation, embody something fragile and existentially human.

Material from the hospital
Some of his earliest works, including the now-iconic series of X-rays in which a figure pointing a gun at its own head transforms into a gas pump (Evolution of Man, 2010), were partly created from materials he found in the hospital, simply because adequate resources for producing art were scarce. Today, Mater, who has exhibited in international institutions such as the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, and was represented at the Venice Biennale in 2009 and 2011, is among Saudi Arabia’s most influential artists. His studio, located in JAX, the new cultural district outside Riyadh, brings together a range of creative professionals: graphic designers, musicians, artists, and visiting collaborators who come together on projects and exchange ideas.

Art and science
Mater’s interest in science also reflects the special place of scientific thought in the Arab and Islamic context, where it has historically been closely intertwined with philosophy and poetry. The tenth-century scholar Ibn al-Haytham, for example, is regarded both as the father of optics and as a poet and theologian. Mater’s revival of this tradition demonstrates both his artistic freedom and his commitment to an independent Arab and Islamic contemporary art.


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Ahmed Mater, Sajdah Illumination, 2011
Gold leaf, tea, pomegranate, and ink on paper
© Ahmed Mater
Written Art Collection

Further artworks from this exhibition