Nazanin Moghbeli

Etude 3 - abstract calligraphy ink drawing / painting on paper, black white

2020

Nazanin Moghbeli's "Morghe Sahar 2" is framed in a white wood painted frame with white mat. It is wired with all hanging hardware, and is ready to install. Moghbeli is a Persian American artist with training in Persian calligraphy, miniature painting, and music. She borrows techniques from Iranian calligraphy to create abstract drawings with traditional bamboo “ghalams,” or quills. Rather than using these techniques to create religious objects as they were originally used, she explores the secular meaning of line in and of itself. She seeks the complete dissolution of words and prefers instead to create abstract images, her alternative to religious object making. The poem that is collaged into this work is a historic Iranian ballad, entitled "Morghe Sahar" (Bird of Dawn), written by Mohammad-Taqi Bahar and put to music by Morteza Neidavoud in 1921. Some consider this song to be the unofficial anthem of freedom in Iran. The lyrics describe a caged nightingale, urging her to sing with passion and break free. It has been sung in different political contexts, from the constitutional revolution of 1921 through the dictatorship of Mohammad Reza...

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