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Tunisian Artist Lassaâd Metoui Decodes His Calligraphy Style

Intuition, 2014
Painting

Tunisian artist Lassaâd Metoui decodes his calligraphy style ahead of his major solo exhibition at the Arab World Institute in Paris.

As an artist and teacher at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, how do you introduce people to the art of calligraphy?
The first thing I explain is that calligraphy is based on letters to write a word. But these letters are also forms. It’s an art that possesses a direct link to nature. We use a cut reed that is born in nature and not in the hands of man. The same can be said for ink and paper. These three items are treasures to scholars. Calligraphy is the art of beauty and aestheticism. It can decorate the walls of the Alhambra in poetic forms or those of the Taj Mahal to resonate love. It is an art that calls for many years of study – ideally 30. Personally, I will never stop studying.

How do you define your style of calligraphy?
My vision of calligraphy is based on meditation and a long journey of reflection. Each object is studied and then integrated in calligraphic forms. Calligraphy starts at the base of a canvas, so that its shapes can take root and then develop on the rest of the white page.

What do you try to convey with such bold use of color within your work?
I principally use three colors: black, red, and blue. Black represents the reflection of sensations. It is a reflector of light, and is traced with one, unique gesture. It’s an important color, because in its essence, it subsumes all the others. In my childhood home of Gabès, I grew up in a neighborhood where red was the color used to manifest happiness. I look for the purity of this color in homage to the history of art, but also my childhood. When I was young, my mother taught me how to mix colors together. Blue is linked to dreams. It is the expression of a nature that we cannot embrace with one look because it is so immense. Kandinsky said, “Blue is essentially a celestial color. The ultimate sensation it creates is one of rest.” In feng shui, blue is the color of the soul and wisdom. 

Le pinceau ivre, carte blanche à Lassaâd Metoui is on at the Institut du monde arabe in Paris from April 11-September 30.

Originally printed in the April 2018 issue of Vogue Arabia.

Meet the Region’s Most Celebrated Calligraphy Artist

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