Black & White is Iraqi calligrapher Wissam Shawkat’s solo show which is currently on view at Mestaria Art Gallery. It allows visitors to delve into the essence of calligraphy and takes them on an innovative journey into the realm of form, shape, and composition. The exhibition will end on 31 December 2023.
Featuring 111 art pieces crafted on handmade paper, Black & White focuses on the emotional expression and the beauty of calligraphic letterforms. As the exhibition’s title suggests, the works on display are executed in a monochromatic palette. “Master calligraphers do not first see colour, we see form,” Shawkat says. “We do not study tonal contrasts at length before analysing the relationship between our letterforms, their rhythm, and the space they occupy.” Using only black and white colours, the artist amplifies the significance of contrast and balance, removing all visual distractions. Highlighting the interplay between positive and negative spaces, Shawkat invites viewers to explore proportion, depth, weight, and style.
About the artist
Wissam Shawkat (b. 1974, Basrah, Iraq) is a Dubai-based artist, designer, calligrapher, and typographer. Passionate about Arabic calligraphy since childhood, he started to study this craft in 1984. In 1990, Shawkat began to work as a professional calligrapher and graphic designer. He graduated from Basra University, where he studied in the Civil Engineering Department, in 1996 and continued to improve his calligraphic skills. He studied the works of Turkish calligraphy masters (Sami Efindi, Mohammed Nazif, Hamid Al Amadi, and Halim Efindi), visited different calligraphers, and went to museum and library collections.
Using handmade paper reed pens and traditional inks, Shawkat creates art pieces in which he examines the new possibilities of Arabic calligraphy. Apart from works of celebrated calligraphers, the artist gets his inspiration from Bauhaus, Geometric Abstraction, Futurism, Cubism, and Cecil Touchon’s work, a contemporary American collage artist and painter.
Currently, Shawkat is a senior designer and consultant who specialises in brand identity and Arabic typography. He has designed logos for institutions, books, magazines, newspapers, and multiple companies, which include such famous brands as Tiffany & Co., Chopard, Hermes, and Jo Malone.
The artist has showcased his creations in multiple exhibitions including the Dubai International Calligraphy Exhibition (2004, 2005, and 2007), Visual & Audible (Sharjah, UAE, 2001, 2002, and 2003), and Nasamat Min Baghdad (Saint-Angelo, Italy, 2000), and others. Besides, Shawkat has been granted numerous awards and prizes: the Al Burda Prize (Abu Dhabi, UAE, 2007); the 3rd place Award in Jally Thuluth style (the Al-Baraka Turk Bank Calligraphy Competition, Istanbul, Turkey, 2005); the Iraq Calligraphy Society Prize (Baghdad, Iraq, 2002), to name a few.
To learn more about Black & White, please visit the exhibition’s official web page.
You might also be interested in attending Wissam Shawkat’s solo show Journey of a Letter at Sharjah Calligraphy Museum.
