Abstraction and Calligraphy: Towards a Universal Language
What鈥檚 the driving force behind Cy Twombly鈥檚 emotive expressions? Behind Kandinsky鈥檚 vibrating canvases?Abstract artists set out to form a universal language that could be understood by all. And that idea was influenced by the calligraphy of Asia and North Africa. There was something about eastern script that fueled the imagination of western artists. The Arab world was full of signs and symbols they could draw from. Both raw and precise, expressive and restrained, calligraphy unlocked a new way for them to express the inexpressible: emotion, empathy, ideas.
For visitors of all ages, this exhibition is a rare chance to appreciate the modern masters鈥� works by Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, Joan Mir贸, Lee Ufan, Andr茅 Masson or Jackson Pollock, alongside contemporary works and monumental calligraffiti made by artists responding to Eastern traditions. In this first exhibition of 2021, we explore masterworks from the Centre Pompidou, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and others 鈥� many shown here for the very first time 鈥� and discover how East and West come together on the same canvas.
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What鈥檚 the driving force behind Cy Twombly鈥檚 emotive expressions? Behind Kandinsky鈥檚 vibrating canvases?Abstract artists set out to form a universal language that could be understood by all. And that idea was influenced by the calligraphy of Asia and North Africa. There was something about eastern script that fueled the imagination of western artists. The Arab world was full of signs and symbols they could draw from. Both raw and precise, expressive and restrained, calligraphy unlocked a new way for them to express the inexpressible: emotion, empathy, ideas.
For visitors of all ages, this exhibition is a rare chance to appreciate the modern masters鈥� works by Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, Joan Mir贸, Lee Ufan, Andr茅 Masson or Jackson Pollock, alongside contemporary works and monumental calligraffiti made by artists responding to Eastern traditions. In this first exhibition of 2021, we explore masterworks from the Centre Pompidou, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and others 鈥� many shown here for the very first time 鈥� and discover how East and West come together on the same canvas.
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