People in the Muslim world are especially fond of calligraphic work as they relate this art to their religion and have a great respect for it. May they live in any corner of the world the Muslim artists necessarily do calligraphic paintings other than their main mode of painting.
The luminous, beautifully designed calligraphic paintings shows the fusion of artist's perception of this visual art and an inner link through which he/she satisfy his/her creative endeavour.
The graceful calligraphic paintings by Fahim Hamid Ali at Ocean Art Galleries, Karachi titled 'Reflections' are one such example. Settled in Canada Fahim is a self taught artist who is associated with the art world for about sixteen years. He strongly feels to be related to calligraphic art and invented his own technique of doing calligraphic paintings.
He writes Bismillah and other Quranic words and phrases in his own unique style, with long strokes nicely curved at the transitions and flourishes at the end. The background is textured by generously applied paints of various rainbow colours. The words show the strength of a soul and makes strong statements.
Arches and minarets are seems to dominate his works. His artworks are in mixed media on paper and canvas. He uses the wash painting technique with liquid oil paints and seldom uses a brush instead he uses his fingers to paint. In some of his artworks he uses defined strokes and accidental textures and a play with colours makes the end result a visual pleasure.
He draws and painted the words freely and creatively without strictly following the traditional styles. His calligraphic paintings seem to have a strong influence of Arabic art. The Arabic words are also made up of the same arcs and loops, ovals and circles, vertical and horizontal lines which are used as designs. The basic geometrical forms remain the same in all of his works.
His calligraphic paintings are an approach with an inner confidence. He is able to indicate the Arabic words, no doubt roughly but quite legibly. And thus with the use of many colours the calligraphy became a very colourful creation. The shades of golden and silver are used to enhance the beauty of the Quranic verses in some of the artworks.
His work shows peace of mind and enhances the value of peace. His new style with lines and a variety of colours appeal the viewers. On canvas his primary concern is aesthetics. He uses beautifully circles, squares and triangles mixed with vibrant colours to create new tones emerging and submerging into each other. His unique aesthetic sensibility finds expression in his new work.
He mainly uses name 'Allah' in most of his paintings. This has been possible through his prolific exploration of not only his original technique but also philosophical insights of oneness of God and peace. nadeemzuberi71@gmail.com