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In Saudi, the old and traditional beliefs collapsed. I denied my existing values. I went through an inner turmoil but still learned from traditional teachings imposed on me, whether religious, cultural, social or political. I assimilated all these ideas and then tried to destroy them. Out of this turmoil emerged a great dilemma that gave birth to many experiments in my art: my rejection, my obedience, my religion…everything that surrounds me. I am searching, like so many of my generation in Saudi, for ideas, for music, for poetry, for a glimpse of a different kind of life… |
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“I am the son of this strange, scary oil civilization.”
Ahmed Mater. Antenna (White), 2010. Neon 150 x 150 x 50 cm Courtesy of the artist.
Illumination of Man
Ahmed Mater
In Saudi, the old and traditional beliefs collapsed. I denied my existing values. I went through an inner turmoil but still learned from traditional teachings imposed on me, whether religious, cultural, social or political. I assimilated all these ideas and then tried to destroy them. Out of this turmoil emerged a great dilemma that gave birth to many experiments in my art: my rejection, my obedience, my religion…everything that surrounds me. I am searching, like so many of my generation in Saudi, for ideas, for music, for poetry, for a glimpse of a different kind of life…
The Illumination series is some of my most recognizable work, showing how I have injected my life into the objective world of modern medicine with my subjective world of faith and spirituality. Often using DNA codes embedded into traditional Quranic manuscripts, I want my works to illuminate, to give light.
Most people will read Evolution of Man as an unabashed critique of humanity’s dependence on oil and what “black gold” represents to those living above the reserves. But Evolution of Man is more than just a political statement: I am a doctor and confront life and death every day, and I am a country man at the same time. I am the son of this strange, scary oil civilization. In ten years, our lives changed completely. It is a drastic change that I experience every day.
The Cowboy Code is something I have thought about for years. When I was a child, the cowboy was always a symbol of freedom and adventure, an ideology that came from the West and assimilated itself into my culture. I challenge anyone who reads the code not to be impressed. It speaks a universal truth. But in recent times we have forgotten the code in favor of the brand. The Cowboy Code is a set of values and the content is like a religion. But the cowboy of my childhood has been abused, in the same way a religion is abused, like the 10 commandments, or the sharia, or the 5 pillars.
Like many of my generation, I have taken a lot from the West, our food, our clothes, our language and so I wanted to present this code as a way almost to steal it back. It’s a strong side and I want to reclaim it from the politics, and the films, and the media and give it back to the people.
Ahmed Mater was born into a traditional Aseeri family in 1979 in Saudi Arabia. At 18, he became a founding member of the influential Al-Miftaha Arts Village in Abha, while studying medicine. Ahmed is a co-founder of Edge of Arabia and one of the Arab world’s leading young artists. His works, which encompass photography, calligraphy, painting, installation, performance and video Mater’s work has been exhibited internationally and in the collections of the British Museum and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
