TEHRAN – The Iranian artist Sasan Nasernia, who is deeply interested in playing with the tension between the elements of order and chaos in his calligraphic paintings, is mesmerizing visitors with a collection of his works at an exhibition in Dubai.

Mestaria Gallery is playing host to the showcase “Calligraphic Confluence”, which will run through October 31.  

“Writing is the first abstraction which humanity came up with,” Nasernia told The National, a local English news website that called the exhibition a journey into the power of words. 

“When you assign a line to a sound, these are all words, which are codes of existence at the same time,” he noted.

The report also says that the written word in the exhibition is not only a means to record and communicate, but also a vehicle infused with ideas, feeling and energy.

Arabic calligraphy, in particular, has a long history as an art form, and is used as ornamentation in elements of architecture, decoration, coin and book design. Nasernia’s exhibition, featuring canvases of various sizes, draws from Arabic and Persian influences to create a captivating body of work.

His style evokes strong emotions, even if you cannot decipher the calligraphy, because of the way he paints them.

Stark, minimal backgrounds give way to a burst of painted gestures. Layers of black and primary colors create a dynamic sense of push and pull. And in the midst of the chaos, there is a sense of balance.

“You cannot be lingering a lot when creating these; this has to be fast. If you watch me doing it, every layer has to happen really fast, because speed gives you the dynamism that, at the end of the day, is present,” explained Nasernia, who has worked as a graphic designer for 18 years.

“I’m interested in doing different styles and exploring different avenues, especially if there is something which hasn't been done before. Things which have been done to perfection by the old masters,” he said.

Nasernia channeled the sense of drama, the climax of movement, and the entanglement of elements from the miniatures he studied in Persian poet Ferdowsi’s epic masterpiece Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), into his work.

Each canvas reveals a scene of juxtaposition: traditional and contemporary, chaos and order, movement and stillness, moments of violence and tranquility, good and evil — the viewer senses Nasernia’s immediate sense to capture this battle and balance.

“Good and evil are two sides of the same coin,” he says. “But the balance always has to be maintained.”

Photo: “Mayhem I” by Sasan Nasernia is on view at an exhibition at Mestaria Gallery in Dubai.

MMS/YAW