Dubai, UAE December 3rd 2013: Pro Art Gallery, the gallery that is synonymous with innovative art & collectibles, is pleased to announce the opening of their Arabic calligraphy exhibition titled ‘Lines and Colors'. The exhibition will showcase an amazing range of artworks of over 10 artists including Arab and Iranian artists.

‘Line & Colors' exhibition will open on 4th December 2013 at 7:30 pm and will run till 25thDecember 2013 at the Pro Art Gallery located in the Palm Strip Shopping Mall on Jumeirah Beach Road, Jumeirah 1.

Pro Art Gallery will feature over 50 masterpieces portraying unique calligraphy art styles, which include traditional and contemporary calligraphy. Each artist will bring something exciting to the table and will provide visitors and collectors with a rare chance to view some of the finest pieces, which showcase the breath of Arabic calligraphy style, while also capturing the tradition of this art form.

The artworks, which will be showcased at the exhibition, show great diversity in terms of their production techniques and artistic trends. The calligraphers employ new techniques and seek to present a unique experience in color and the visual relationship between the letter and its place on the work surface. 

Tatiana Faure, Director of Pro Art Gallery explains, “We are very excited to host and promote this exhibition as Arabic Calligraphy is one of the most revered forms of artistic expression and has always been inherently intertwined in the history of the Arabic arts.”

Biographies of featured artists:

Abdallah Akar (Tunisia)

Born in the far south of Tunisia in 1952, Abdallah went to Paris in the late 1960s, where he met and trained under the master Ghani Alani. Akar has worked on the art of calligraphy for nearly thirty years and has taught at the ‘Institut du Monde Arabe' since 1993. Abdallah as a painter and calligrapher, draws his inspiration from Arabic and Western poetry (Mahmoud Darwish, Omar Al Khayyam) using a luminous palette with a balanced mix of writing and colour, on materials as diverse as textile, wood and iron.

Hassan Massoudy (Iraq)

‘'Hassan is born in 1944, his is from Iraq, considered by the French writer Michel Tournier as the greatest living calligrapher. He grew up in a traditional society. He moved to Baghdad in 1961, where he learned classic Arabic calligraphy. After arriving in Paris in 1969, he entered the “Ecole des Beaux-Arts” where he studied figurative painting. But he did not stop calligraphy altogether; to pay for his studies, he was doing headlines in calligraphy for Arabic magazines.

In 1972, he created, with the actor Guy Jacquet and later the musician Fawzi Al Aiedy, Arabesque, a public performance combining music, poetry and live calligraphies projected on a screen.

In 1995, he was involved in the design of the stage set for the ballet “Selim” with the dancer Kader Belarbi from the Opera de Paris and the singer Houria Aichi on a choreography from Kalemenis.

Majid Alyousef (Saudi Arabia):

Majid Alyousef is a calligrapher, designer and creative professional, with a set of skills that combine calligraphy, typography and digital art.

Since early childhood he has been especially drawn towards the arts and creative expression. His interest began with drawing, painting, model making, followed by calligraphy. At a very young age, Majid began focusing on the art of calligraphy, guided by teachers and experts in the field. In the beginning, he followed the traditional path set by master calligraphers and was very keen on acquiring the necessary skills and techniques taught by the very best. But with time, effort and enthusiasm towards innovation, he began carving his own path and setting his own trademark upon his creative work.

Majid has participated in several exhibitions in the UAE and abroad, and has also taught calligraphy and typography in various art institutions and colleges.

Although he carries a deep passion for calligraphy, Majid continued developing his other creative and artistic inclinations during his academic years and early career, leading him to earn his expertise as an interactive designer and digital artist.

Sasan Nasarnia (Iran):

Calligrapher, painter and musician Sasan Nasernia, was born in 1974 in Tehran. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design from Tehran's Azad Art University in 1997. As a graphic artist, Persian and Arabic words and letter forms never ceased to fascinate him. Although digital typography was the trend of that time, Sasan grew to realize that it wasn't his method of choice to satisfy his sheer fervour for art. This led him to start creating unique calligraphic paintings, as the means to express his artistry and self-exploration.

In search of his own language and style over recent years, Sasan has resorted to a minimalistic approach as a result of his “less is more” motto. The majority of his works are monochromic and dichromic, where the intertwined letter forms are created instantly, characterized by the melody of chanted poetry. Since 2008, Sasan has held various solo and group exhibitions in galleries in both Tehran and Dubai.