Until May 30th, 2022, visitors are invited to see Iranian artist Abol Atighetchi’s art at the Oblong Contemporary Gallery in Dubai, where the artist’s 12 unpublished paintings will be exhibited. The exhibition covers more than 31 years of Abol artistic career, from 1991 to 2022.
Abol Atighetchi’s art shows his journey around the globe. Moving from Iran to the United States, France and back to Iran, the artist presents his point of view on various cultures including his perception of the natives from North and South America to African tribes, Papua New Guinea and the far East. Some of the early paintings such as Les Iroquois, painted in 1991, show the artist vision of the Red Skin Indian American tribes located in North America specifically in Canada. Another exquisite work on canvas is about Mururoa, an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean, and two paintings are about Rainbow Warrior, a Green Peace ship.
Calligraphy painting created by the artist under the influence of the great Persian poet, M Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, are also exibited. “Calligraphy is an Islamic Art that I have mastered,” says Abol Atighetchi, having even developed his own style. He combines coloured naskh, suluth and kufic style calligraphy with large letters in a single acrylic painting of big format and circles in gold leaf or uses simple colour to decorate. However, in the Nastaligh style, he uses many colourful geometrical forms and lines to modernise the painting. Also, Abol paints calligraphy on wood, using lines and dots to decorate the background.
“I always loved calligraphy because of the lines – I’ve used lines in a lot of my work. So, I started looking into it and understanding the movement of the pen. I never went to school to study calligraphy because I didn’t want them to teach me the technique, I wanted to do it my way,” notes the Iranian artist.
Abol Atighetchi was born in Teheran in 1948. He graduated with a B.S.C. degree as an aeronautical engineer from Queen Mary College, University of London. His artistic period from 1972-1983 can be called Nouvelle Figuration (oriental folcklore). Abol lived in France from 1983 to 1992, in this period he painted a series of figurative paintings also called Nouvelle Figuration (European modern contemporary).
“I don’t think I will explore another style after minimalism because it’s such a wide field that it will take me the rest of my life. I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to – calligraphy, post-modernism, figurative and the final step is minimalism,” comments Abol Atighetchi.
Oblong Contemporary is an Italian Art Gallery primarily promoting contemporary art. Oblong gallery’s mission is to create a successful global arena for culture, represented by its headquarters in Dubai and Forte dei Marmi, Italy. Bringing its strong Italian culture and tradition, Oblong functions as an artistic bridge between the UAE and Italy.
