The National 

Five Minutes with Art Noor

Art Blog by Anna Seaman

Published on May 05, 201

How would you describe your style as an artist?

Though, I tend to experiment with various styles and techniques depending on the subject, medium and the situation, but a substantial body of my work is in the style of  'Lyrical Abstraction'.

Spontaneity and movement is what drives my work and it usually evolves into something meaningful with the inspiration of the moment. Many times in the past my work has been interpreted as emotionally charged melodies, by my teachers and the art critics.

 Is your art only appreciated by Muslims or can anyone enjoy it?

Michelangelo created Christian art during the High Renaissance. The world admires and appreciates his genius and timeless masterpieces, till today. There is a direct relationship between art and spirituality, and everyone has a certain part of their brain wired for natural spirituality irrespective of the faith they may follow or born into. When I paint the " 99 Names of Allah , it is about the Creator, who created the universe with everything and everyone in it. It's a very human emotion and an attempt to connect - which is universal, not limited to any particular faith or sect. Most of my patrons are non Muslims and appreciate the work, because it evokes the feelings and communicates to them (so I am told ).

Do you only paint the 99 Names of Allah and other calligraphy or do you have other series?

My biggest body of work consists of the 99 names.  But I have painted the abstracts inspired by the poetry of Rumi and Nature. I have also been working on a series of black and white paintings, 

which I will exhibit later this year. I also did a series of "nature inspired digital artworks' last year for Movenpick  on the theme of 'desert and water', which they incorporated in their luxury apartment project in Jumeirah Lake Towers.

 Can you tell me more about the pointillism technique? Why did you choose to use that technique?

George Seurat first developed this technique in the nineteenth century and was used by Vincent Van Gogh in his works. Instead of blending the colors, the image is created using the dots or small strokes. I used this technique 

in "Shukran Khalifa,( the live painting" at the World trade Center )  because it was built slowly over many weeks and  the  visitors could see the painting evolve gradually over the weeks. It also imparts an ceremonious feel to the composition with an interesting texture to the surface.

You recently exhibited in Abu Dhabi at the World Trade Centre. How did that exhibition come about?

 In August 2013 received an email from Patrick Bell, General Manager of World Trade Center Abu Dhabi, inviting me to display my work there. I came to see the location of the WTC Souk, in the following week and was impressed by architecture of Norman Foster and the historical relevance of the spot. The friendly  and welcoming demeanor of the event manager WTC, Charbel Rezk convinced me to move to Abu Dhabi with my 99 collection of paintings. 

Setting up the exhibition was not an easy task,given the distance of  3 hours from my studio at Sharjah Airport International Free Zone, but it was done over theperiod of couple of months.I had to find a home right next to the souk, to do the installation in the night, when there are no shoppers. However,the display was widely appreciated and the effort was worth it, because of the energy it brought to the souk.

Will there be more exhibitions?

This exhibition will continue till Ramadan, Inshallah. I intend to the 99 names, live through the month of the Ramadan, this yearAfter which I will have an exhibition in Dubai. I also have an invitation from Chicago, which I have not yet decided as yet. 

Where else can we see your work other than in exhibitions? IE - do you have a website?

My website is http://www.artnoor.com  and it has some of my work and the stdio tour I am in the process of the updating it with more work during the next few weeks.