Huguette Caland (Beirut, Lebanon, 1931–2019), City II, 1968. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation
Arab art embraces many possibilities. “Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s,” an exhibition on view at Boston College’s McMullen Museum of Art, explores those possibilities in an exhibition that features contemporary artists and language, but travels fluidly through past influences.
Comprising just a fraction of the enormous holdings of the Barjeel Art Foundation—the collection of Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, based in the United Arab Emirates—“Taking Shape” brings dozens of artists and almost 100 works to the United States for the first time. For its breadth—the artists are of Arab, Berber, Circassian, Jewish, Persian and Turkish descent, and studied and painted all over the globe—“Taking Shape” stays pointedly focused.
In this collection the geometry, calligraphy, decorative patterns and religious practices of Arab culture collide with contemporary art-making.
De-colonizing culture was a key element in Arab artistic awareness. In the 1960s visual artists and critics formed the Casablanca School in Morocco. Its goals were similar to those in other colonized countries—for artists to escape from the overwhelming influences of their occupiers, in this case, the French—and re-establish cultural awareness.
Public exhibitions, and a return to traditional studies like ceramics, calligraphy, jewelry and carpet-making, were introduced. And across the Arab world, similar reactions followed.
What grew among artists, and what we see a glimpse of in “Taking Shape,” was a natural affinity for abstract practice. Art inspired by “letterism”—works based on the shapes or implications of letters—brought a calligraphic side to abstractions, particularly with artists like Omar El-Nagdi and Madiha Umar. This practice—“Hurufiyya” in Arabic—led to calligraphy and ritualistic motifs being re-purposed in striking ways.
Omar El-Nagdi (Cairo, Egypt, 1931–2019), Untitled, 1970. Mixed media on wood. Collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation
A Syrian-born Iraqi, Umar’s untitled watercolor beautifully explores the gestural possibilities of calligraphy. El-Nagdi, Egyptian mixed-media artist, varied his abstractions on the symbol for the number 1 (the same symbol as the aleph, or first letter in the alphabet), creating a powerful, recurring image. The Sudanese painter Ibrahim El-Salahi’s oil “The Last Sound,” from 1964, commands attention with its striking composition and expansive references.
Sufism, human anatomy, mathematics, and landscape also contribute to the abstract visual languages on view.
The artists are predominantly late-career. Substantial bodies of work are represented here by only one or two paintings. The striking diversity in backgrounds—Moroccans who studied in China or Europe, Jordanians who painted in India, Kuwaitis who work in California, Iranians influenced by the Fluxus movement—underscores the polymath, cross-cultural energy on view.
Women artists are equally represented in “Taking Shape.” The abstract studies in anatomy by Lebanese artists Hugette Caland—from her “Bribes de corps (Body Parts)” series—and Afaf Zurayk, bring elements of eroticism and humor to the exhibition. Caland’s “City II” shows another side of the painter, examining the sweeping grace of letter forms.
Brazilian-born Lebanese Yvette Achkar explores color and line, blending studies of the human form with geometric abstractions. Wijdan—HRH Princess Wijdan al-Hashemi, one of Jordan’s most respected authorities on Islamic art—contributes an evocative, heavily textured oil to the exhibition. Saloua Raouda Choucair, considered one of Lebanon’s first abstractionists, developed her own algorithmically based approach to forms, imforming her visual art with an intellectual subtext.
“Taking Shape” runs through June 13. The exhibition occupies two floors in the museum, filling the Daley and Monan galleries.
Saliba Douaihy (Ehden, Lebanon, 1915–New York City, 1994), Untitled, c. 1960–69. Oil on canvas board. Collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation
The McMullen Museum of Art is free to the public, with advanced timed reservations required. The museum has no shop or café, but the spectacular roof deck will be open during good weather. Wear a mask, although guidelines are changing constantly.
The McMullen is open Wednesday–Sunday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Visit bc.edu/sites/artmuseum or call 617 552-8587.
Keith Powers covers music and the arts for Gannett New England, Leonore Overture and Opera News. Follow @PowersKeith; email to keithmichaelpowers@gmail.com.