NOW ON VIEW
Found in Translation:
The Art of Steven Naifeh
Through September 1, 2013
Will South, chief curator
The abstract art of the West and the
geometric art of the Arab and Islamic
worlds share not only an appreciation
for the beauty of the physical world,
but also, even more fundamentally, an
understanding of the spiritual origin
and purpose of beauty. The brilliantly
colored, large scale geometric abstractions
by Steven Naifeh reveal and celebrate
this commonality in his first museum
retrospective. His art gives the viewer the
opportunity to simultaneously learn more
about Western abstraction and Islamic
art, all while being overwhelmed by the
splendor of his out-sized creations.
Beginning a thousand years ago, Islamic
artists from Moorish Spain to northern
India used geometric art to represent
universal harmony. These artists used the
basic shape of a circle to create a seemingly
infinite number of different patterns that
expressed the belief there is order in all of
creation.
Above: Cyrene XVI: Gold, 2012. Acrylic on 110 canvases, 89 × 115”
Next Page: Mamluk IV: Sapphire, 2011. Acrylic on 12 canvases, 62 × 72”
three continents as his parents moved from
assignment to assignment in the service
of their country. From Libya to Pakistan,
Naifeh grew up surrounded by the art of
the Middle East.
The spirituality of Middle Eastern art
had its counterpart in Western artists
such as Kazimir Malevich, who thought
of his paintings as religious icons. Over a
career spanning more than four decades,
Steven Naifeh’s work has evoked this sense
of order and clarity at the heart of both
Middle Eastern art and Western geometric
abstraction.
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