Minimalism

Born of 1960s New York, Minimalism stripped art down to its essentials: geometric form, single colors, repetition, and the relationship between object and space. The movement found particular resonance with Arab artists already steeped in Islamic geometric tradition and the calligraphic discipline of mark-making. Jordanian sculptor Mona Saudi, Lebanese-Iraqi Princess Wijdan Al-Hashemi, and Iraqi printmaker Rafa Nasiri produced minimalist works that draw equally on contemporary international practice and centuries of Islamic visual restraint. In the Arab context, minimalism rarely feels imported — it feels like a return to the formal economy that has always underpinned Islamic art, from the geometric ornament of medieval mosque architecture to the spare line of classical Arabic script.