Nasser AL ASWADI (Yémen, 1978) Lot n° 72

Baraka Drawing on paper 76x56cm Nasser Al Aswadi was born on October 4, 1978, in the village of al Hujr, not far from Taiz, the third largest city in Yemen. He lived in his village until he was 16 years old. Later, he studied architecture in Taiz, then in Sana'a. He exhibited his first works in Sana'a in 2001. Since 2008, Nasser has been going back and forth between Yemen and France. For Nasser Al Aswadi, calligraphy is a way to express feelings and thoughts without being specifically linked to language. He uses Arabic letters, words and shapes as well as religious and musical references. The wide variety of meanings and styles feeds the artist's creativity. Nasser's art is inspired by the events of the Arab Spring, everyday realities, rural landscapes, architecture, as well as the incessant movement of crowds in the streets. Anxious to translate this experience into artistic creations, in each work Nasser chooses a writing style that gives these works a particular meaning and singular emotions. The letters and words are not drawn in a linear or horizontal way, but painted and stacked separately and identically to each other, tangled and lost in the imaginary space of the painting. Nasser has interrogated all the calligraphic styles of Arabic script to create a world in which his work is rendered abstract, but clearly inspired by everyday events. He also makes the most of the energy and light of the words he chooses. Writing is at the heart of his work, but it deviates from normal usage in order to allow viewers access to a world of signs and visual language.