ART CITIES:Dubai-Golnaz Fathi

Golnaz Fathi is renowned for her abstract paintings rooted in the rich traditions of Persian calligraphy. Her work and success is an answer to the stereotypes that are circulated about Iran and Iranians in the Western media. Her work embodies what Iranian women have always had to offer and helps to challenge some of these stereotypes. “Art always speaks for peace. I would be more than happy to have any part, no matter how small, in challenging the stereotypes about the region”.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Third Line Gallery Archive

Through “Line | Khat”, Golnaz Fathi’s solo exhibition at the Third Line Gallery, the artist explores the relationship between experimental calligraphic mark-making and non-traditional mediums like ballpoints and rollerballs. Her new body of work originates from a fascination with diaries and notebooks and was prompted by a visit to Shanghai, where she encountered a series of folded handmade books. These triggered nostalgia around the notebooks she used to carry around and collect as a child, causing a return to the ritual of diary keeping. Obsessively and repetitively penning down her thoughts on a daily basis, every page turned into an abstract artwork. Golnaz refers to this process as a voyage into the unknown world. The exhibition presents a selection of notebooks, and works on paper and canvas from this series. Works on paper in the “Black” Series and “Blue Series” are made with archival ballpoint pens, an uncommon medium for calligraphers to use. For Golnaz, the use of this pen can be seen as a subtly rebellious and unconventional approach to the practice. Running out of ballpoints, and not being able to obtain new ones, Golnaz then switched to rollerball pens, which she uses in combination with acrylic paint, culminating in works on large canvases. Born in Tehran Fathi is one of the few women in Iran to excel at traditional Islamic calligraphy, a largely male-dominated discipline. Fathi completed a Bachelors of Art in Graphics at Azad Art University in Tehran in 1995 and then gained a Diploma of Iranian Calligraphy from the Iranian Society of Calligraphy in Tehran. She would sit for up to 8 hours daily, carefully controlling her breathing and writing poetry with a qalam (a writing instrument made from a dried reed) to master traditional strokes. Despite becoming one of the country’s most skilled practitioners, Fathi decided to leave the world of Islamic calligraphy to pursue a career as a contemporary artist. Trading her qalam for paintbrushes and pens, Fathi created her own distinct visual language. Her process is informed by the tradition of “siah-mashq” or where the calligrapher draws one letter or word repeatedly until the paper is covered with black ink to warm up the hand. Fathi transforms siah-mashq into intricate compositions. Playing with lines, she places them across, up, down and off the edge of the canvas evoking mountains, crevices and waterfalls.

Info: Third Line Gallery 1, Warehouse 78 & 80, (Exit 43 off Sheikh Zayed Road), Street 8, Al Quoz 1, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, Duration: 21/12/16-28/1/17, Days & Hours: Sat-Thu 10:00-19;00, www.thethirdline.com