Posts Tagged calligraphy

Jahane Rumi is priveleged to publish this exclusive piece contributed by Syed Naveed Abbas

t is the month of December and one’s heart weeps as one invokes the memory of Guljee. His work is a living testament to our times and the dignity of a proud nation. He was the painter from the day he was born. A profoundly earnest and sincere artist, he displayed a high seriousness tempered with tenderness and a love of simplicity. Nevertheless, he is perhaps best known worldwide for his abstract work, which is inspired by Islamic calligraphy and is also influenced by the action painting. The images that Guljee’s brush strokes produced are not only rich in symbolic meaning but visually so much variegated that the eye travels fascinated from point to point. His painting comes from a divine inspiration, giving it a dimension of space and movement. He carried the script with a flourish in all directions, giving it the power of space, vigour and volume. He has made the brush prove mightier than the sword, time and again, and with his brush on canvas he has earned accolades. Whatever Guljee had a hand in turned out to have an unquenchable spark of utter genius. (more…)

“The gestures of the calligrapher become an open space, welcoming the words of the poet and the imagination of the onlooker”.

Discovered this image of a calligraphic work and about the Iraqi artist Hassan Massoudy at the JTG Art Blog.

The major part of the compositon is a calligraphic expression of the word “Raza“and interestingly there is a quote by Rumi below with the name Rumi prominently sketched.

Narcisissm or what..I am admiring this image since yesterday and today was compelled to post it here.

About the artist:

Hassan Massoudy is an artist for whom the word itself remains the most sublime creative force. His creations are a subtle mix of present and past, oriental and occidental, tradition and modernity. The words and phrases, which are the inspiration for his calligraphy, are drawn from proverbs, poets and philosophers throughout the centuries, ranging from St. Augustine, Virgil and Ibne Arabi to Baudelaire and Rousseau.

I wonder what is he upto and how have the conditions of Iraq influenced him. Need to find out more. In the meantime, I am glad to have found his works and interact with his brilliance…

More here

This is a painting that I revisited and converted its earlier abstract form into a calligraphic experiment. Now the challenge was that in addition to the lack of training in oil painting, I was also a novice in calligraphy. Anyway, the image inside Rumi’s tomb that I posted on this blog earlier as well as the three attributes of the Almighty helped me in putting this together. The letters in the centre are Hu (affirmation of the Divine presence and a Sufi chant) and its mirror image. In Rumi’s words:

Eternity is the mirror of the temporal, the temporal the mirror of pre-eternity – in this mirror those
two are twisted together like his tresses..(translated by Arberry).

This was truly inspirational as I remembered the lines with a brush in my hand. Another little flash was the three words that I have remembered abundantly thanks to a guide. Alas, I am out of touch with him.

The three words, familiar and lyrical, on the right side of the painting represent the key attributes of Allah : Ar-Rahman(the Beneficient), Ar-Raheem (the Merciful), Al-Kareem (the Generous).

Muslim mystics have chanted these names since centuries in the quest to attain inner peace and closeness to Divine consciousness.

With this little feat, I am sort of feeling peaceful myself.

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