Rafi Ajl

Rafi Ajl (b.1983) is a Berkeley, California-based artist who is obsessed with form and process. He is driven by the possibilities of materiality, an insatiable curiosity, and an undisputed reverence for the pressures of the creative process.

Ajl’s approach is also deeply rooted in post-structuralist critical theory, which emphasizes that the process is never terminal but boundless and full of play.
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Ajl studied literature and critical theory at Hampshire College, where he gained a foundation in post-structuralist critical theory, the Situationists, a prominent group of European intellectuals and avant-garde artists, and the German philosopher Walter Benjamin.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Ajl grew up in a deeply artistic home where making things was a way of life. He can scarcely recall a time when he wasn’t building and taking things apart, and cites his quilter mother, who taught him how to sew and about color, as an early influence.

His house was an assemblage of folk art, antique furniture, and quilts, where brightly colored walls contrasted with parquet floors and neo-Victorian details. In 2012, Ajl graduated from the California College of the Arts with an MFA in Design.
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Selected Exhibitions

Two Bodies Exhibition

Two Bodies

Rafi Ajl
June 6 - July 19, 2024

C.V.

Education

2015   Masters of Fine Arts, Design, California College of the Arts

Masters of Landscape Architecture, Harvard University GSD, incomplete

2005   Bachelor of the Arts, Hampshire College, 2005

Exhibitions + Lectures

2025  “New in New York” – The Future Perfect, New York, NY

2024   “Two Bodies” – The Future Perfect, San Francisco, CA

2024   “Works in Progress”

2020   “Aditions” – Winter Show

2019   “Crowdfunding Commons” – Shenzhen Bieannle with IF/THEN Studio

2017   “Emergent Typologies” – Sketching in Hardware

2017   “Making the Awesome” – O’Rielly Design Conference

2015   “Do You Do It For Love or Money” – Art Night SF with Love and/or Money

2015   “The Independent Food” – MAXXI, Rome, Italy with Future Farmers

2015   “A Range of Indeterminate Results” – CCA MFA Design Thesis Exhibition, Designer + Curator

Positions

Founder, The Long Confidence

Adjunct 2 Professor, Design Devision, California College of the Arts

Lecturer, Design Department, UC Davis

Residencies 

2023   Monterey Glass Works, invited resident artist

2015   Future Farmers, Design Fellow, Spring – Fall

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