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MEHDI MOUTASHAR MEHDI MOUTASHAR

MEHDI MOUTASHAR, Iraq (1943)

Bio

Written by Mysa Kafil-HussainMehdi Moutashar was born in the city of Hilla in central Iraq, close to the ancient city of Babylon, in 1943. Graduating from Baghdad’s Academy of Fine Arts in the...

Written by Mysa Kafil-Hussain

Mehdi Moutashar was born in the city of Hilla in central Iraq, close to the ancient city of Babylon, in 1943. Graduating from Baghdad’s Academy of Fine Arts in the early 1960s, Moutashar was always intrigued by the various artforms he encountered, from the intricate patterns found in Islamic art to graphic, minimalist abstraction from all around the world. In 1967, Moutashar left Iraq for Paris, where he attended the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts.

Soon after he arrived in Paris, Moutashar visited the city’s Museum of Modern Art and came across an exhibition of geometric abstract art entitled Lumiere et Mouvement featuring artists such as conceptual sculptor and light artist, Francois Morellet, and the influential Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel (GRAV).[1] Moutashar was deeply moved by the work he saw and found inspiration in the futuristic simplicity and illusionistic qualities of the French artists’ compositions and installations. He didn’t completely abandon the Islamic aesthetics found in art and design back home, however, and traveled to Granada in southern Spain for the first time in 1969.[2] There, he visited the famous Alhambra and experienced the breath-taking tilework, muqarnas and gardens of the Nasrid palace, all elaborately constructed with the basic geometrical principles of Islamic design in mind, something which had quite an impact on Moutashar.

Moutashar moved to Arles in 1974 and also joined the École Nationale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris as a professor that same year,[3] remaining in that position until 2008. Continuing to produce art, he found his true personal style in the early 1970s, creating pieces that became a meeting point between Islamic traditions (especially arabesque patterns and calligraphy) and experimental optical art. It was in this period that he produced three paintings in the DAF Collection: Vibra (1971), Zone (1974), and Zone 28 (1974). These artworks are quintessential examples of Moutashar’s attempts to produce endless illusions inspired by the world around him, creating a sense of depth with subtle colours and contrasts, and interlacing forms with no start or endpoint. 

“I was quite concerned by the permanent connection by things…the trees, the sky, the sand…I discovered this liberty to examine, to make questions. I don’t believe that it’s necessary to find the definite answer. There is no definite answer…I have to question everything in my mind and myself, and my history. In this way I feel that I am alive. In such a way I’m useful to, first to myself, and maybe a little bit to others.”[4]

Unfortunately in December 2003, wind and rain brought the city of Arles to its knees, causing immense flooding which destroyed his studio.[5] Much of his work was ruined, and could not be restored. This only served to push Moutashar to keep creating, and it is the work he has produced in recent years which has brought him significant international acclaim. In 2018 he won the prestigious Jameel Prize at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, sharing the accolade with Marina Tabassum, an architect from Bangladesh.[6] He received widespread praise, and his life’s work was introduced to an entirely new audience.

Moutashar continues to work and live in Arles, but has not forgotten the Arab and Islamic foundations of his dynamic, minimalistic style of abstract art, with each composition providing a unique crossroads for the different traditions that inspire him to meet. 

[1] Beatrice Gross & Stephen Hoban, 2019. François Morellet: Page 54

[2] Ibid: Page 53

[3] “Mehdi Moutashar: Measuring Space”. Artbahrain.org, 2017: http://artbahrain.org/wp2017/mehdi-moutasher-measuring-space/

[4] “Jameel Prize 5: Mehdi Moutashar”. Youtube.com, 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERBF0yKUrRE

[5] Christies: “Mehdi Moutashar – Zone 14” (From Modern & Contemporart Art, Dubai, 18 October 2016): https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/mehdi-moutashar-french-iraqi-b-1943-zone-14-6024959-details.aspx

[6] “Mehdi Moutashar and Marina Tabassum – First Ever Joint Winners of Jameel Prize 5”. In Islamicartsmagazine.com, 2018: http://islamicartsmagazine.com/magazine/view/mehdi_moutashar_and_marina_tabassum_winners_of_jameel_prize_5/

Sources

Barré, François; Manuel, Pierre; Bodinier, Gérard; Clévenot, Dominique. Mehdi Moutashar. Editions Actes Sud, 2014

Fouad, Dr Sind. استلهام التكوين التجريدي في اعمال الفنان مهدي مطشر. Elsada.net. 2018. Accessed April 27, 2020. http://elsada.net/121399/

Gross, Beatrice; Hoban, Stephen. François Morellet. Dia Art Foundation, 2019

Moutashar: Chapelle Saint-Martin du Mejan, 30-April-12 June 1988 (exhibition catalogue). 1988.

Christies: “Mehdi Moutashar – Zone 14” (From Modern & Contemporart Art, Dubai, 18 October 2016). Accessed May 2020. https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/mehdi-moutashar-french-iraqi-b-1943-zone-14-6024959-details.aspx

“Jameel Prize 5: Mehdi Moutashar”. 2018. Youtube.com. Accessed April 27, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERBF0yKUrRE

“Mehdi Moutashar: Measuring Space”. Artbahrain.org. October 30, 2017. Accessed April 27, 2020. http://artbahrain.org/wp2017/mehdi-moutasher-measuring-space/

“Mehdi Moutashar and Marina Tabassum – First Ever Joint Winners of Jameel Prize 5”. Islamicartsmagazine.com. July 4, 2018. Accessed April 2020. http://islamicartsmagazine.com/magazine/view/mehdi_moutashar_and_marina_tabassum_winners_of_jameel_prize_5/

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CV

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2017

Measuring Space, Albareh Art Gallery, Manama, Bahrain
Exposition Printemps 2017, Galerie Orsay, Paris, France

2016

Galerie Victor Sfez, Paris, France

2014

Galerie Le Petit Temple, Lasalle, France

2013

Galerie Linde Hollinger, Ladenburg, Germany

2012

Galerie AL/MA, Montpellier, France

2011

Kleine Museum, Weissenstadt, Germany

2009

Galerie Denise Rene, Paris, France

2005

Galerie Verney-Caron, Villeurbanne, France

2003

Espace Capitole, Arles, France

2002

Galerie Denise Rene, Paris, France

1999

Galerie Denise Rene, Paris, France

1998

Galerie Denise Rene, Paris, France

1997

Kufa Gallery, London, UK

1996

Galerie XIII, Arles, France

1989

Porte Narbonnaise, Carcassonne, France
Moutashar, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
Galerie St Ravy Demangel, Montpellier, France

1988

Moutashar, Chapelle Saint-Martin du Méjan, Arles, France
Galerie Karo, Berlin, Germany
Galerie Walzinger, Saarlouis, Germany

1986

Moutashar, Galerie Nicole Dortindeguey, Anduze, France

1985

Moutashar, Galerie Hoffman, Friedberg, Germany
Galerie Karo, Berlin, Germany

1980

Al-Riwaq Gallery, Baghdad, Iraq

1979

Galerie Leger, Malmo, Sweden

1978

Gallery K, Washington D.C., USA

1977

Musée de Chartres, France
Maison Pablo Neruda, Arles, France

1976

A.R.E., Caen, France

1975

National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq

1974

Galerie du Haut-Pavé, Paris, France

1972

National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Galerie du Haut-Pavé, Paris, France

1971

Galerie Leger, Copenhagen, Denmark
Galerie Leger, Malmo, Sweden

1970

National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq

1969

Centre d’Accueil aux etudiants du Proche-Orient, Paris, France
Centre Culturel Français, Baghdad, Iraq

Selected Group Exhibitions

2019

Jameel Prize 5, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2018

Jameel Prize 5, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK

2017

Albareh Art Gallery: Mohammad Omar Khalil and Mehdi Moutashar, Art Dubai 2017, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2016

Mehdi Moutashar et Vanessa Notley: Lastic / Les Vestibules, Galerie AL/MA, Montpellier, France
Beyond Form (Joint exhibition with Richard Serra), Palais du Tau, Reims, France

2015

Thoughts around the Black Square (Tribute to the Malevich Black Square), Vasarely Museum, Budapest, Hungary

2011

Galerie Deleuze-Rochetin, Arpaillargues, France

2010

Islam(s) d’Europe (Group exhibition with Francois Morellet, Hassan Hajjaj, Martin Parr, Reza Abidini & Nicolo Degiorgis), Institut des Cultures de l’Islam, Paris, France

2009

Notations, Akademie der Kunst (Academy of Arts), Berlin, Germany

2008

Sur la Ligne, Musée Matisse, Cateau-Cambresis, France
Le Champ Rhythmique de l’Esprit: Arts de l’Islam et Abstraction Geometrique, Espace d’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France

2005

Le Livre Arabe, National Library of France, Paris, France
Le Chant rythmique de l'esprit. Art de l'islam et abstraction géométrique, Espace de l'art Concret, Château de Mouans-Sartoux, France
Art in Motion, Leeuwarden, Netherlands

2003

Ateliers Arabes, UNESCO Palace, Beirut, Lebanon
Khan As’ad Pasha, Damascus, Syria

2002

From the Ocean to the Gulf and Beyond: Arab Contemporary Art, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan

2001

Arte abstracto y la galerie Denise Rene, CAAM – Atlantic Center of Modern Art, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

2000

Tsukuba Museum of Art, Ibaraki, Japan; Marugame Genichiro Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, Kagawa, Japan; Urawa City Museum of Art, Saitama, Tokyo, Japan; Himeji City Museum of Art, Hyogo, Japan; Tokyo Art Institute, Tokyo, Japan

1998

Galerie Marz, Manheim, Germany

1997

Third Sharjah Biennale, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

1994

Arab Artists from France, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan

1991

L’Eau et l’Europe, Jardin des Prébendes, Tours, Franc

1988

The Corner, Musée Cantonal de Sion, Sion, Switzerland
The Corner, Stadt Museum, IngolStadt, Germany
Constructions et Conceptions, Berlin, Germany

1987

Zwei Quadrat, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshaven, Germany
Konkret Sieben, Kunsthaus, Nurenberg, Germany
Ephémérité (Ephemerality), Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France

1986

Distances, Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France
Contemporary Arab Artists, Espace Culturel de la Ligue Arabe, Paris, France
The Corner, Galerie Hoffman, Friedberg, RFA

1984

Eighth British International Print Biennale, Bradford, United Kingdom

1982

Sixth Norwegian International Print Biennale, Fredrikstad, Norway

1980

Third World Biennale of Graphic Art, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London; Baghdad, Iraq
Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Tunis, Tunisia

1978

Arab Contemporary Graphic Art, London, United Kingdom

1976

Salon de Comparaisons, Grand Palais, Paris, France

1975

40 Artistes Contemporains, Arles, France

1974

Sixth Cagne-sur-Mer International Festival, Cagne-sur-Mer, France

1973

Grands et Jeunes d’Aujourd’hui (Old and Young of Today), Grand Palais, Paris, France
Art Basel Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland
Eighth Paris Biennale, National Museum of Modern Art, Paris, France

1972

Screen Printing, Galerie du Haut-Pavé, Paris, France

1968

French Cultural Centre, Baghdad, Iraq
Middle Eastern Student Centre, Paris, France

1966

Iraqi Graphic Art, Leipzig, Germany  

1965

Al-Wasiti Gallery, Baghdad, Iraq

1964

First Ibiza Biennale, Ibiza, Spain
Exhibition of the Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad, Iraq

Publications

Mehdi Moutashar, François Barré; Pierre Manuel; Gérard Bodinier; Dominique Clévenot.  Editions Actes Sud, 2014

Awards and Honors

2018

Jameel Prize 5 (Joint winner with Marina Tabassum), Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK

Collections

Art Libraries, Arles, France
General Council of Bouches-du-Rhone, France
Hussain Ali Harba Family Collection, Amman, Jordan
Ibrahimi Collection, Amman, Jordan
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan
Kleine Museum, Weissenstadt, Germany
Klingspor Museum der Stadt, Offenbach, Germany
Museum of Art and History, Cholet, France
Museum of Fine Arts, Chartres, France
Museum of Modern Art, Tunis, Tunisia
National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan
National Library of France, Paris, France
National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Ramzi & Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation (DAF), Beirut, Lebanon
Scandinavian Graphic Art Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

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Exhibitions
Beirut and the Golden Sixties: A Manifesto of Fragility
TAJREED – A SELECTION OF ARAB ABSTRACT ART 1908 – 1960

MEHDI MOUTASHAR Artwork

Zone

MEHDI MOUTASHAR, Iraq, 1974
95 x 97 cm

Vibra

MEHDI MOUTASHAR, Iraq, 1971
60 x 60.5 cm

Zone 28

MEHDI MOUTASHAR, Iraq, 1974
100 x 100 cm

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