BAHRAM HANAFI (B. 1966) Untitled

Acrylic on canvas 150 x 200 cm (59 1/8 x 78 3/4 in.) Executed in 2014 After a Bachelor’s degree in Handicraft from the Art University of Tehran (1994) with a thesis on Imagination and Experience in Broken Calligraphical Script and a Master’s degree in Research of Art at the Tarbiat Modarres University in Tehran (1999) where he worked on a thesis based on Darvish Abdul Madjid Talequani’s works, most skilled adept of the Shakastah Nasta‘liq script (the third script developed in Iran for writing Persian in the Arabic alphabet), Bahram Hanafi dedicated himself to the art of calligraphy. He worked on different series like Color’s speech in 2013, where the two works come from — Here, he plays with the abstract tendencies of calligraphy: almost ornamental, these spread out on his canvas like a ribbon, blending colors, curves, arches and loops. The artist also plays with the transparency of his medium, allowing the script to come in and out of the background.