Feb 23, 2017
In Siah Armajani's "Calligraphy", inscriptions derived from Persian poetry and numerical sequences suffuse a white pictorial field. These inscriptions, written in varying calligraphic styles, form what art historian Shiva Balaghi terms “an illegible, dizzying confluence of images” that contrasts with the traditional orderliness of Persian script. Armajani’s use of poetry as source material may also imply social critique—he once remarked in an interview that poets were traditionally the only members of Iranian society whose expression of political and social protest was not censured. #FromtheGreyCollection #resist Image: Siah Armajani, Calligraphy, 1964. Ink on canvas. Grey Art Gallery, New York University Art (at Grey Art Gallery)