Mehdi Qotbi, lover of writing, of poets and of patterns

‘I don’t write pictures. I unwrite them. I fill the emptiness.’

Mehdi Qotbi, an artist who defines himself as being engaged in an act of unwriting, is being given pride of place by Artcurial with the exhibition entitled Mehdi Qotbi, poète des signes, taking place from 5th to 11th April. This will be the occasion to celebrate 50 years of painting and transforming Arabic calligraphy into art, but always in a resolutely contemporary way. The artist will be using the event to reveal a monumental original work comprised of 104 paintings each measuring 50 x 50 cm.

Born in Rabat, Morocco in 1951, Mehdi Qotbi entered his home town’s school of Fine Arts at the age of 17. In 1969 he arrived in Toulouse, enrolling at the school of Fine Arts there, graduating in 1972. He then moved to Paris where he studied for two years at the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, becoming a professor of visual arts

During a period when the artist was reflecting on his own origins, it became obvious to him he should work using a written form. He uses Arabic calligraphy to create imaginary ideographic imagery – scriptural shapes painted in gouache, acrylic or ink, appearing as finely embroidered patterns. A poet of patterns, Mehdi Qotbi brings together the artistic resources of writing and the visual expressiveness of shapes. He transforms writing into painting, characters into patterns.

A lover of literature, Mehdi Qotbi has worked in collaboration with many writers; his illustrations have emphasized the beauty of poems by Léopold Sédar Senghor, Octavio Paz, Michel Butor and Aimé Césaire. Today he is pursuing new avenues and working with the world’s great luxury, fashion and jewellery brands, such as Dior and Chaumet, who are now using his designs.

In this exhibition the artist is seeking to translate the identity of writing, that of its origins - which escapes like a child’s dream lost to time because ‘in the end, one’s love for the Arab language expresses the need to preserve the memory of one’s ancestors’.

Informations

Public exhibitions in Paris:

From 5 to 11 April 2019

Monday through Friday 11am – 7pm

Saturday 11am – 6pm

Artcurial

7, rond-point des Champs-Elysées

75008, Paris

Exhibition Contact
Hugo Brami

Tél. +33 1 42 99 16 15

News Contact 
Carine Decroi