A Long Line Without a Word

Pearl Lam Galleries is pleased to present A Long Line Without a Word, a solo exhibition by Iranian artist Golnaz Fathi in Shanghai, China, on show from 26 May to 22 July, 2018. Gathering over 17 works, most of them new and recent, the stark and striking exhibition highlights Fathi’s delicate yet assertive works created in two styles: ink pen on canvas and acrylic brush on canvas—with the latter making its series debut in Asia. The polarity of the techniques complements one another in their respective details, while reflecting Fathi’s artistic practices as both a contemporary artist and a trained calligrapher.

Rooted in traditional Persian calligraphy—a sacred form of art in the Islamic world—Fathi’s works break free from the disciplines of Arabic scripts. Under Fathi’s abstract spin, letters are reduced to lines; each word becomes illegible and diverges from its original meaning. Following the twists and turns of each line drawn under her intuitive gestures, viewers experience a rhythm that is universal yet uniquely subject to one’s own imagination. When examined up close, the seemingly minimal composition on canvas is composed of thousands of lines, the result of a painstaking process, delivering emotional responses that even language sometimes fails to communicate.