GHARAM (LOVE)

Samir Sayegh is a Lebanese poet and art critic, widely considered to be a pioneer of Arab modernism. In the presented work, Gharam, the abstracted, stretched and condensed word that fills the canvas with its tall-standing lettering, translates into the more passionate form of the word “love”. Through the formal use of line and space, the geometry of the composition is tightly condensed, placing emphasis on the verticality of the letters. Following his time at the Arabic press writing about contemporary Arab art, he had developed a deep connection to the art of calligraphy. Sayegh dedicated his time to studying the forms and intricacies of Arabic lettering, exploring the text’s aesthetic features rather than its meaning in the efforts to produce a universal language.

Sayegh was born in Lebanon in 1945 and studied fine arts at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His interest in the modern art movement and minimalism bridged a gap between the two through his highly geometric works. In 1988, he published his book on Islamic Art, and was a prolific Architecture and Graphic Design professor at the American University of Beirut. He had held solo exhibitions across the Gulf, had participated in group shows in Jeddah and Damascus, and was honored for his calligraphic style in the first Sharjah Biennale. He currently resides and works in Beirut, Lebanon.