Lot 226: - Golnaz Fathi , Iranian B. 1972 Untitled each: oil on canvas

each: signed and dated 2005 each: oil on canvas

measurements note each: 119.5 by 120cm.; 47 by 47 1/4 in.

The calligraphic works of Golnaz Fathi are true expressions of emotion: to Golnaz each colour represents a sentiment, each stroke a shout of joy or grasp of pain. Although the artist was trained as a calligrapher her work seems to break the traditional boundaries of the discipline. Her letters are vessels for sensation rather than meaning; with colour and alphabet she seeks to create a primal response in the viewer. Whilst a Farsi or Arabic speaker may strive to make sense of the letters on her canvas, Fathi has deliberately calligraphed these works so that the words are nonsense. She actively seeks an emotional rather than cerebral response from her viewer, for the viewer to absorb the energy of her canvas. In these works Golnaz Fathi celebrates our physical form through her brush. Fathi is inspired by the movement of the human body and fascinated by the continuous whirling of the dervish and the miracle of the human body in dance joyously interpreted on her canvas through flowing lines of text.