![<p><span class="viewer-caption-artist">Nasser Al Salem</span></p>
<p><span class="viewer-caption-title"><i>[It is] The Work of Allah , Who Perfected All Things</i></span>, <span class="viewer-caption-year">2014</span></p>
<p><span class="viewer-caption-media">Hand drawn with Rotring ink on cotton paper</span></p>
<p><span class="viewer-caption-dimensions">21 x 29.7 cm (8 1/4 x 11 11/16 in.)</span></p>
<p><span class="viewer-caption-inventory">NAS0226</span></p>
<p><span class="viewer-caption-aux"></span></p>](/images/27082_h2048w2048gt.5.jpg)
Nasser Al Salem
[It is] The Work of Allah , Who Perfected All Things, 2014
Hand drawn with Rotring ink on cotton paper
21 x 29.7 cm (8 1/4 x 11 11/16 in.)
NAS0226
Basmah Felemban
Qif Bil Tawaf, 2014
Work on paper
65 x 65 cm (25 9/16 x 25 9/16 in.)
Edition of 3 + 1 AP; From the Last Seen...series
BAF0017
Dana Awartani
Mohammad, 2014
Work on paper
113.5 x 118 cm (44 5/8 x 46 7/16 in.)
From the Seal of Prophets series
DAN0062
Dana Awartani
Jesus, 2014
Work on paper
113.5 x 118 cm (44 5/8 x 46 7/16 in.)
From the Seal of Prophets series
DAN0061
Dana Awartani
Moses, 2014
Work on paper
113.5 x 118 cm (44 5/8 x 46 7/16 in.)
From the Seal of Prophets series
DAN0060
Seckin Pirim
Oyku, 2014
Car paint on 960 sheets of 300 gr Bristol paper cut out
148 x 187 cm (58 1/4 x 73 9/16 in.)
SEP0006
Hazem Harb
Untitled, 2014
Pencil and etching on double paper
65 x 65 cm (25 9/16 x 25 9/16 in.)
From Al Baseera Series
HAH0078
Hazem Harb
Untitled, 2014
Pencil and etching on double paper
65 x 65 cm (25 9/16 x 25 9/16 in.)
From Al Baseera Series
HAH0079
Hazem Harb
Untitled, 2014
Pencil and etching on double paper
65 x 65 cm (25 9/16 x 25 9/16 in.)
From Al Baseera Series
HAH0080
Hazem Harb
Untitled, 2014
Pencil and etching on double paper
65 x 65 cm (25 9/16 x 25 9/16 in.)
From Al Baseera Series
HAH0081
Hazem Harb
Untitled, 2014
Pencil and etching on double paper
65 x 65 cm (25 9/16 x 25 9/16 in.)
From Al Baseera Series
HAH0082
Hazem Harb
Untitled, 2014
Pencil and etching on double paper
65 x 65 cm (25 9/16 x 25 9/16 in.)
From Al Baseera Series
HAH0083
Hazem Harb
Untitled, 2014
Pencil and etching on double paper
65 x 65 cm (25 9/16 x 25 9/16 in.)
From Al Baseera Series
HAH0084
Hazem Harb
Untitled, 2014
Pencil and etching on double paper
65 x 65 cm (25 9/16 x 25 9/16 in.)
From Al Baseera Series
HAH0085
Nasser Al Salem’s training as an architect has taught him that all objects and creation has a premeditated system in place. This system maps out how components are fused together, how they function, and how then they effect its aesthetical composition.
His work as a calligrapher is also ruled by a system of geometric principles that allow this art an aesthetical, geometrical and spiritual composition, the latter as an extension of himself.
His work fuses a blueprint of calligraphy depicting a verse from the Holy Quran, [It is] The Work of Allah , Who Perfected All Things, [Chapter Al Naml, Verse 88] -- with the notion that all creation has a perfected blueprint in place; mapped out by the creator Himself. He imagines the insight gained, and the state a person would be in, should he observe the blueprint of all creation.
Pirim’s designs are the product of a visual and conceptual counteraction regarding the multiplication of the singular and the imaginary singularity of the plural. This understanding of singularity, with a framework composed of a sterile, simplified abstract form that has almost left its natural references behind, is linked to the chain relation of the basic modular unit to other, reproduced modules based on its form.
Within the whole there rests a massive singularity as a founding element, for certain, but this singularity is also the whole itself. A gaze at the whole is sufficient to reveal it. This gaze is also the shortest cut to see the design itself that exhibits its own full development from start to finish.
Al Baseera is the artist’s first interpretation of Islamic geometric patterns. The title of this series Al Baseera is derived from the Arabic word ‘basar’ which means looking as well as seeing through something whether an object, an event or an idea. In this exhibition, Harb invites the viewer to look deeply and reflectively, to admire ‘art for arts sake’ to immerse oneself in the series of paintings that celebrate the aesthetics of geometry. Here, there are no overarching themes of suffering. In contrast to works that explore human conditions of loss and oppression, in Al Baseera, the visitor transcends the present to engage in a contemplative Sufi interpretation of geometrical abstraction.
According to Harb, Al Baseerah “… is a journey to challenge myself to seek a deeper understanding of Islamic art and its dialogue with abstraction.” The outcome is this outstanding exhibition that offers a rich visual experience.
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