Abstraction and Calligraphy

Abstract artists set out to form a universal language that could be understood by all. That idea was influenced by the calligraphy of Asia and North Africa.There was something about eastern script that fuelled the imagination of western artists. The Arab world was full of signs and symbols they could draw from. Both raw and precise, expressive and restrained, calligraphy unlocked a new way for them to express the inexpressible: emotion, empathy, ideas.
This exhibition is a rare chance to appreciate masterworks by Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, Joan Miró, Lee Ufan, André Masson, Dia Azzawi and Jackson Pollock, alongside contemporary works by Sanki King, Mona Hatoum, and a monumental installation by eL Seed.