Prof. Ayad Al-Hussaini
Artist, Scholar & Former Dean of Fine Arts, Baghdad
Taj’s artistic experiment ever reveals states of passion and aesthetic infatuation, constantly seeking breaking new grounds and reinventing beauty. In this, the artist has been following the route, long trodden by theoreticians, of rediscovering knowledge in general. Perhaps, some of the most significant elements of Taj’s experiment is that aesthetic richness stemming from his various academic, creative, theoretical and professional experiences, possessing the appropriate tools and applying these in recurring visual explorationsm that are aesthetic and unique.
Taj’s artistic experiment derives its aesthetic characteristics not only from his own environment. By being strongly rooted in aesthetic logic, Taj strived to embody the characteristics of Islamic art and calligraphy in its cultural value, factors of its unity, authority, rhythms recurrences, in all their fascinating and enchanting manifestations. We badly need these elements today, to restore balance to humanity, which is permeated by manifestations of anxiety, oppression, depravity, cruelty, alienation, and estrangement.
It is natural for such an experiment to fully appreciate the significance of the written text and the choice of sublime meanings that were traditionally picked by calligraphers, in their attempt to represent the beauty of the graphic representation of such sublime meanings and to shed light on the Arabic Islamic environment.
Taj’s art is the product of his environment which treasures a lot of sublime meanings and ancient aesthetic traditions, which, together with its collective origins in vision and thought, involve a lot of uniqueness in expression, significance, and meaning. In the process of mastering the system used by calligraphers and uniquely perfecting the making of a calligraphy painting with all the aesthetic values he could muster, Taj does not hesitate, in many ways, to innovate new rules, as calligraphers should always do, and what creative people should aspire to achieve in the process of establishing new concepts in Art.
Taj regularly reformulates his works of art, in a manner befitting the modern visual memory. He, sometimes, goes further to emphasize the ever-flourishing life of Arabic calligraphy and the essence of its spirit that flows through times by virtue of its power of unceasing regeneration. He does not hesitate to employ whatever technique available to him to repeatedly work on the same calligraphy forms, because he recognizes, with great skill and sharp acumen, that the technical qualities of the media and tools used must yield new creative results. He, furthermore, attempts to subject the authentic traditional techniques of the classical calligraphy styles to modern painting techniques, to imprint his artistic touches and to express his emotions and yearnings, and then redraft the traditional painting in an aesthetic framework commensurate with the accommodating modern visual memory. This technical experiment has helped him achieve aesthetic heights in his calligraphy paintings.
Taj emphasizes the idea that the prospects for his aesthetic experience do not stop at the limits of the craftsmanship that the calligrapher is keen on as part of his artistic presence. But rather he reformulates it in his own unique way that makes it a fruitful life-long experience of non-stop creativity and innovation. Perhaps, by doing so, Taj sets an example to other calligraphers who cling to the age old traditions of their peers, encouraging them to revise their own experiments for further exploration, freedom, and departure from the familiar norms and traditions.
It is natural then that the manifestations of creativity are multifaceted in his aesthetic experiment. When he attempts to redesign his icons and signs from the perspective of calligraphy, Taj actually emphasizes the aesthetic significance of Arabic calligraphy itself, by applying new methods and new rules, subject to the function of design art, to resurface as signs and symbols. Though directly linked to their function, these signs and symbols derive inspiration from the artistic dimensions of the Arabic alphabet, in order to express the difficult task of binding the sign to signification.
Taj’s experiment rekindles the spark of aesthetic vivacity, confirming the broad aesthetic possibilities of Arabic calligraphy and a profound significance that its inspiration never fades away.
