Elmarsa Gallery hosts Nja Mahdaoui’s JAFR. The Alchemy of Signs exhibition
Hawa 4 is a work in mixed media on linen canvas.
Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer
Elmarsa Gallery, Dubai, is currently hosting JAFR. The Alchemy of Signs, the third solo exhibition of Tunisian artist Nja Mahdaoui’s compositions in its space (Mar. 8 – May 7). Featuring a new body of work that reveals the full breadth, imagination and scale of his oeuvre, the show unveils the artist’s most recent paintings produced between 2019 and 2021. Born in 1937 in Tunis, Mahdaoui lives and works in Tunisia, after graduating from the Academia Santa Andrea in Rome and pursuing his academic training at the Cite International des Arts and Ecole du Louvre in Paris. Notable for his meticulous work in ink on parchment, he has been called the Choreographer of Letters. While his work is inspired by Arabic calligraphy, he considers himself an explorer of signs.
His artistic approach is based on abstract signs and compositions — devoid of actual textual meaning — which he refers to as Calligrams or Graphemes. They appear on all manner of materials: canvas, vellum, papyrus, arches paper, silkscreen print, books, posters, designs, sculpture, aluminium, brass, melamine, drum, textile, embroidery, tapestry, ceramic, wood, jewellery, stained steel glass, architecture, fuselage of airplanes …
“My view is to freely exit the graphic structure of the Arabic letters or the verb-syntax and the structure of the style,” Mahdaoui says. “It is because I believe that the final objective is a work of art is where symbols are loaded with meaning.
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“In calligraphy, written letters acquire a symbolic status which they maintain till they attain a significance. But as soon as the letter loses its contours, the reader is bound to resort to his imagination in order to decode and reach the meaning of the word. “I hope he does not remain confined to the visual content, but that he rather journeys through the process of the work.” It has led writer and curator Rose Issa to comment that “Mahdaoui is careful not to emphasise the meaning of words, but stresses instead the visual effect of compositions. His ‘calligrams’ evoke infinite pleasures in rhythms, fast or slow, born from tension of the wrist, somewhat in the manner of a melodic flow, rising and fading away.”
Mahdaoui has worked with dancers and musicians; there have been live performances where he has painted on human bodies. He has also created stage sets and worked with fashion designers. Inspired by literature, he makes artists’ books, where his paintings echo and compliment the words of the Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi or the tragic story of Shams Al Nahar from the 1001 Nights. He has been jury member and Guest of Honour at many international events and biennales (Sharjah International Arabic Calligraphy Biennial, 2006; The International Arts Biennial of Tehran, Iran, 2006; Abu Dhabi Art Festival in 1989 …). He was member of the International Jury of the Arts Prize of UNESCO, 1993 to 1995.
He has received a number of distinctions and international awards, such as the Grand Prize for Arts and Letters from the Tunisian Ministry of culture in 2006. He has designed monumental artworks such as windows murals for Facebook’s new Menlo Park headquarters in California (2018), the window facade of the ALECSO headquarters in Tunis (2015), KAUST University Campus Mosque in Saudi Arabia (2010), created designs for Gulf Air aircraft (50th Anniversary, 2000), composed sculptures and tapestries in Jeddah and Riyadh airports and in Aramco head office in Dhahran. He has also created logos, designs and posters for the theatre, companies and organisations such as Amnesty International. In 2012, he performed a live creation charity for Noor Dubai Foundation, in collaboration with four young Emirati artists, hosted and organised by Christie’s, under the patronage of the UAE Minister of Culture, Abdulrahman Al Owais.
His numerous exhibitions worldwide include those at Casa Arabe in Madrid (2010-2011), the Arab World Institute (IMA) in Paris, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the National Museum of Scotland and the Modern Art Museum in Baghdad, among others. In addition, he has taken part in performing art projects, introducing his work in performance art within the framework of theatre and dance, such as a body-writing performance in 1985 at La Maison des Cultures du Monde (the Home of World Cultures) in Paris and in 1987 at the Ludwig Forum for International Art in Aachen, Germany.
His works have been presented in international art fairs such as Abu Dhabi Art, Art Dubai, Art Paris, Marrakech Art Fair, Art Asia Miami, Art Stage Singapore, India Art Summit, SCOPE Basel and Contemporary Istanbul.
They can be found in many private and public collections such as the British Museum in London, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, Mathaf – Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and the National Gallery of Kuala Lumpur.
Founded in 1994, Elmarsa Gallery has spaces in Tunis and Dubai, and an expanding European presence in Paris. Specialising in both modern and contemporary art, the gallery represents and supports the career of some of the most influential and recognised artists of the 20th and the 21st century from North Africa and the Middle East, with wide-ranging programmes. Active in both the primary and secondary markets, the gallery also represents its artists at major international art fairs focusing on African and Middle East art in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Paris, London, Marrakech, Miami and New York.
