Research Catalog

Title

Taking shape : abstraction from the Arab world, 1950s-1980s / edited by Suheyla Takesh and Lynn Gumpert ; foreword by Lynn Gumpert ; essays by Iftikhar Dadi, Hannah Feldman, Salah M. Hassan, Anneka Lenssen, Salwa Mikdadi, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, Nada Shabout, Suheyla Takesh, and Kaelen Wilson-Goldie.

Publication

• New York, New York : Grey Art Gallery, New York University ; Munich, Germany : Hirmer Publishers, [2020]
• Trento, Italy : Printer Trento
• ©2020

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Takesh, Suheyla
• Gumpert, Lynn
• Dadi, Iftikhar
• Mikdadi, Salwa
• Shabout, Nada M., 1962-
• Hassan, Salah M.
• Wilson-Goldie, Kaelen
• Feldman, Hannah
• Al-Qassemi, Sultan Sooud
• Lenssen, Anneka
• Grey Art Gallery, issuing body, publisher, organizer, host institution.
• Hirmer Verlag, publisher.
• Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, host institution.
• Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, host institution.
• McMullen Museum of Art, host institution.
• University of Michigan. Museum of Art, host institution.

Description

256 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), facsimiles, portraits; 29 cm

Summary

• "'Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s' investigates the development of abstraction in West Asia and North Africa via paintings, sculpture, and drawings made during a period of rapid industrialization, several wars and mass migrations, new state formations, and the rise and fall of Arab nationalism(s). Examining how a diverse group of artists mined the region's rich artistic heritage as well as the expressive capacities of line, color, and texture, this book highlights various abstract practices that arose in the Arab world and its diaspora in the mid-20th century. Alongside vibrant images of nearly ninety works--all drawn from the remarkable collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation, based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates--'Taking Shape' featuers nine essays by leading scholars who are rethinking art-historical canons and expanding discourses around global modernism."
• "Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s explores the development of abstraction in the Arab world via paintings, sculpture, and works on paper dating from the 1950s through the 1980s. By looking critically at the history and historiography of mid-20th century abstraction, the exhibition considers art from North Africa and West Asia as integral to the discourse on global modernism. At its heart, the project raises a fundamental art historical question: How do we study abstraction across different contexts and what models of analysis do we use? Examining how and why artists investigated the expressive capacities of line, color, and texture, Taking Shape highlights a number of abstract movements that developed in the Middle East, North Africa, and West Asia, as well as the Arab diaspora."--Artsy website (accessed 18/2/20)

Alternative Title

Abstraction from the Arab world 1950s-1980s

Subjects

• Abstract expressionism
• Art, Arab
• 1900-1999
• Exhibition catalogs
• Abstract expressionism > Arab countries > 20th century > Exhibitions
• Essays
• Arab countries
• Art, Arab > 20th century > Exhibitions
• Illustrated works
• Artists > Arab countries > 20th century > Exhibitions

Genre/Form

• Illustrated works.
• Essays.
• Exhibition catalogs.

Note

• Published to accompany exhibitions held at Grey Art Gallery, New York University, January 14 - April 4, 2020; Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, April 28 - July 26 2020; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, August 22 - December 13, 2020; McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Boston, MA, January 25 - June 6 2021; University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbon, MI, June 25 - September 19, 2021.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-246) and index.

Contents

Introduction : "No longer a horizon, but infinity" / Suhueyla Takesh -- Recollections : women and abstraction in the Arab world, 1960-1990 / Salwa Mikdadi -- Mediating abstraction through the Arabic letter / Nada Shabout -- Abstraction in the Arab world / Iftikhar Dadi -- When identity becomes "form" : Calligraphic abstraction and Sudanese modernism / Salah M. Hassan -- Abstracted : Land for art in Lebanon / Kaelen Wilson-Goldie -- Abstract anxieties and Algerian abstraction / Hannah Feldman -- Toward abstraction : the case of Kuwait in the 1960s / Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi -- Abstraction of the many? Finding plenitude in Arab painting / Anneka Lenssen.

Call Number

N6488.A65

ISBN

• 3777434280
• 9783777434285

LCCN

2019914807

OCLC

1110435781

Title

Taking shape : abstraction from the Arab world, 1950s-1980s / edited by Suheyla Takesh and Lynn Gumpert ; foreword by Lynn Gumpert ; essays by Iftikhar Dadi, Hannah Feldman, Salah M. Hassan, Anneka Lenssen, Salwa Mikdadi, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, Nada Shabout, Suheyla Takesh, and Kaelen Wilson-Goldie.

Publisher

New York, New York : Grey Art Gallery, New York University ; Munich, Germany : Hirmer Publishers, [2020]

Manufacturer

Trento, Italy : Printer Trento

Copyright Date

©2020

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-246) and index.

Event

"Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s" : January 14-April 4, 2020, Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, New York, United States

"Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s" : April 28-July 26, 2020, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, United States

"Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s" : August 22-December 13, 2020, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States

"Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s" : January 25-June 6, 2021, McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

"Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s" : June 25-September 19, 2021, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Chronological Term

1900-1999

Place of Publication

United States New York (State) New York.

Germany Bavaria Munich.

Italy Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Trento.

Added Author

Takesh, Suheyla, editor, writer of introduction.

Gumpert, Lynn, editor, writer of foreword.

Dadi, Iftikhar, writer of supplementary textual content.

Mikdadi, Salwa, writer of supplementary textual content.

Shabout, Nada M., 1962- writer of supplementary textual content.

Hassan, Salah M., writer of supplementary textual content.

Wilson-Goldie, Kaelen, writer of supplementary textual content.

Feldman, Hannah, writer of supplementary textual content.

Al-Qassemi, Sultan Sooud, writer of supplementary textual content.

Lenssen, Anneka, writer of supplementary textual content.

Grey Art Gallery, issuing body, publisher, organizer, host institution.

Hirmer Verlag, publisher.

Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, host institution.

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, host institution.

McMullen Museum of Art, host institution.

University of Michigan. Museum of Art, host institution.

Research Call Number

*R-RMRR N6488.A65 T35 2020

JQF 20-990