Untold Symphony by Golnaz Fathi | Opera Gallery Beirut | 6 - 21 Oct. 2021

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Golnaz Fathi
13 April - 7 May 2022

Opera Gallery is thrilled to present
Untold Symphony; an exhibition
featuring selected works by artist
Golnaz Fathi.
Fathi’s interest in calligraphy turned
into a highly individualistic abstract
art form; she was able to create a
compelling composition of these
calligraphic words and letters.
Her art is a dancing stage for all
her wonderful ideas.
Born in 1972 in Tehran, Golnaz Fathi is a contemporary
Iranian artist recognised for her reinterpretations of
traditional Persian calligraphy. She studied graphic design
at the Islamic Azad University and went on to study
traditional Persian calligraphy, receiving a diploma from the
Iranian Society of Calligraphy. She was named Best Woman
Calligraphist by the Iranian Society of Calligraphy in 1995.
Fathi is widely recognised for expanding the tradition of
calligraphy and pushing it to new heights. Her works are
inspired by American Abstract Expressionists and Iranian
and Middle Eastern modernists, who pioneered the use of
the written word as a pictorial element in the late 1950s
and early 1960s. Technically brilliant, she has developed
a new visual language, which reconciles the ancient with
the contemporary. Fathi’s interest in calligraphy derives
from the medium’s intention to match the visual beauty
of a text with its content. Instead of communicating with
words, she pushes the gestural qualities of calligraphy
beyond language, into abstraction. Her works repeat forms,
creating a meditative quality.
Fathi’s works are housed in the collections of the
Metropolitan Museum, New York; the Asian Civilisation’s
Museum, Singapore; the Brighton & Hove Museum, England;
the British Museum, London; the Carnegie Mellon University,
Doha, Qatar; the Museum of Islamic Art, Malaysia; the Devi
Art Foundation, New Delhi, India; the Denver Art Museum,
Denver, USA; the World Bank in Washington DC and the
Farjam Foundation Dubai, UAE.
Photo on the left: Artist’s portrait
Photo on the right: Artist’s studio

Untitled
2021
Mixed media on canvas
120 x 160 cm | 47.2 x 63 in
3

5

Untitled
2021
Mixed media on canvas
170 x 142 cm | 66.9 x 55.9 in
6

8

Untitled
2022
Mixed media on canvas
130 x 190 cm | 51.2 x 74.8 in
9

11

Untitled
2022
Mixed media on canvas
190 x 130 cm | 74.8 x 51.2 in
12

14

Untitled
2019
Mixed media on canvas
123 x 170 cm | 48.4 x 66.9 in
15

17

Untitled
2018
Acrylic on canvas
130 x 170 cm | 51.2 x 66.9 in
18

20

Untitled
2007
Acrylic on canvas
180 x 45 cm | 70.9 x 17.7 in
21

23

Untitled
2019
Mixed media on canvas
Diptych: 100 x 300 cm | 39.4 x 118.1 in
24

26

Untitled
2018
Mixed media on PVC
60 x 45 cm | 23.6 x 17.7 in
27

29

Untitled
2018
Mixed media and led on PVC
80 x 170 cm | 31.5 x 66.9 in
30

32

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