Renowned British Libyan artist and calligrapher Ali Omar Ermes has died aged 76. Born in 1945, in the Libyan city of Zliten, Ermes studied at the University of Plymouth in the UK. He returned to Libya after graduating in 1970, but later moved to London, where he completed a master’s degree at what later became Central Saint Martins.
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Meem Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of an exhibition of the recent work of Ali Omar Ermes this December. Ali Omar, who is internationally renowned for his beautiful paintings based on Arabic literature and letterforms, exhibited his work at Meem in 2007 and we are delighted to present his second solo show at the gallery this winter. The artist will be in attendance during the opening.
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The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is the only national museum in the US dedicated to the collection of the arts of Africa. On exhibit are the finest examples of traditional and contemporary art from the continent of Africa including Ghana Amer and Ali Omar Ermes
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Jaeger-LeCoultre Middle East Brand Director Renaud Pretet and members of the Touchline board were recently received by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Higher Committee for Dubai Expo 2020 to present the special painting ‘Tawasul Al-Himam’ (The Continuum of Resolve) by Ali Omar Ermes. The great work of art was commissioned by Jeager-LeCoultre and Touchline FZ-LLC in celebration of Dubai’s expo theme.
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East-West: Objects Between Cultures
Free entry
Tate Britain: Exhibition
1 September 2006 – 18 February 2007
Ali Omar Ermes, Shadda 1980
Watercolour and gold on paper
635 x 615 mm
Lent by the British Museum
The verse inscription relates to social equality. Like the Tachiste works displayed in this room, ‘Shadda‘ depicts a gesture imbued with meaning. Although some of these Tachiste works are reminiscent of calligraphy, Arabic script is given spiritual significance in Ermes’ work, as a written expression of Qur’anic revelation.
What is the relationship between image and word in this example of calligraphy?
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Art Dubai ottava edizione: una realtà sociologica che vive d’interazione con l’occidente in una continua osmosi relazionale tra professionisti, business e turismo. La necessità di Dubai di aggiornare le sue figure professionali, di inserirsi come nodo strategico per i grandi mercati globali e la capacità di offrire un’esperienza unica nel lusso più sfrenato sono i maggiori cardini attraverso i quali si compie la relazione con il mondo occidentale.
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THE LETTER ‘KAF’
Ali Omar Ermes (Libya, active London, born 1945)
Libya, Lybian, 1991
Prints; screenprints
Screenprint on paper
Plate: 32 1/2 x 24 3/4 in. (82.55 x 62.87 cm); Sheet: 41 3/8 x 31 5/8 in. (105.09 x 80.33 cm)
Gift of Irène Momtaz and Shahbaz Afridi in memory of Mozaffar and Farokh Momtaz (M.2006.131)
Islamic Art
Not currently on public view
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On 16 November 2007 at the State Hermitage Museum (Halls 28-32 by the Saltykov Entrance) an exhibition was opened which has been organized by the State Hermitage Museum in collaboration with the Triumph Gallery in Moscow, supported by Alisher Usmanov’s charitable organization, Art and Sport.
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When I listened to the recent lecture by Neil MacGregor, Director, British Museum on the 250th anniversary of the museum, I was, at least at the beginning, very relieved. (1) I thought, finally we have the director of the museum, an avid apostle of the “universal museum”, who was recently made a saint by the British press (2), admitting openly in the museum, (or is it now a temple?) that his institution is British and actually the first important institution to have in its title, the word “British”. This came in a time British workers were also asserting their nationalism. The history of the British Museum as traced by the director clearly indicated that the museum was established by a British Parliamentary Act for the British people. I heard in the lecture phrases such as “centrally and quintessentially British”, “first public institution to be called British”, “oldest British organization” and all this was said to be “true today”.
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Ali Omar Ermes (Libyan, b. 1945)
The Sixth Ode
Price realised
USD 195,750
Estimate
USD 120,000 - USD 180,000
Ali Omar Ermes (Libyan, b. 1945)
The Sixth Ode
signed, inscribed and dated in Arabic (upper left)
acrylic on paper, in two parts
overall: 98½ x 88½in. (250 x 225cm.)
Executed in 1993
Provenance
Donated by the Artist.
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African'Writing and Graphic Systems' Full of Beautiful Variety
You’d be forgiven if, confronted with an exhibit titled “Inscribing Meaning: Writing and Graphic Systems in African Art,” you wouldn’t exactly be bowled over with anticipation. Forgiven, maybe. But you’d be wrong, dead wrong.
The exhibition at the National Museum of African Art is indeed about writing and graphic systems, but that doesn’t begin to hint at the audacious imaginings at work here, or the variety of beautiful works, or the beautiful variety of the written word and Africa’s long history of communications systems.
The somewhat prosaic title also doesn’t hint at the adventurous ideas on the part of the curators, who have not only ranged far and wide over African landscapes, nations, peoples, cultures and art for this display, but also coupled “historic” examples with the work of contemporary artists—some of which are worthy of exhibitions by themselves.
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DUBAI // Proceeds from the sale of a painting by a prominent Libyan artist will help refugees from the Syrian war.
The Sixth Ode by Ali Ermes is a depiction of a poem from the Muallaqat Al Sabaa, a collection of seven pre-Islamic Arabic poems.
The artwork is estimated to be worth between US$120,000 (Dh440,784) and $180,000, Christie’s auction house said.
Christie’s said the painting was expected to fetch the highest price in its sale of modern and contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish art next month in Dubai.
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في هذه الحلقة من آفاق يتحدث الفنان والمفكر الليبي علي عمر الرميص عن اعماله الفنية واهمية الخط العربي كما نتابع اجمل انواع الخطوط العربية من تونس ومن لبنان مع الخطاط فارس ملاعب ومن باريس مع الفنان والخطاط غني العاني اضافة الى آثار الامازيغ في ليبيا كما تشاهدون معرض حد في لندن لفنانات عربيات منعت اعمالهن من العرض في بلادهن. آفاق من اعداد وتقديم وسام الصايغ
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لقاء خاص
مع الكاتب و المبدع علي عمر الرميص
وجدان الربيعي
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تعود كريستيز Christie’s إلى دبي الشهر القادم مع برنامج رائع يضم مزاداً للفن الحديث والمعاصر في المنطقة يقام في جميرا أبراج الإمارات خلال التاسع عشر والعشرين من مارس. سيتمكن العامّة أيضاً من مشاهدة المعرض من السادس عشر إلى التاسع عشر من مارس خلال مهرجان آرت دبي 2014
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اكتظت القاعة التي استضافت مساء أمس مزاد كريستيز للأعمال الفنية العربية والإيرانية والتركية الحديثة والمعاصرة بالمقتنين في تنافس محموم على 140 لوحة فنية بلغت حصيلة بيعها 10,648,250 دولار أمريكي (39,111,022 درهم إماراتي)، بزيادة لافتة قدرها 65 بالمئة مقارنة بحصيلة مزاد السنة الماضية الذي حصد حينئذ 6,384,750 دولار أمريكي
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مندوبة عن الملكة رانيا العبدالله، افتتحت الأميرة وجدان الهاشمي رئيسة الجمعية الملكية للفنون الجميلة، المعرض الفني «انعكاسات من السماء، تأملات على الأرض: المدرسة الخطية في الفن العربي المعاصر»، وذلك يوم الأربعاء الفائت في متحف مركاتي دي تريانو في العاصمة الايطالية روما، بحضور السفير الأردني في ايطاليا زيد اللوزي، ومدير عام المتحف الوطني الأردني للفنون الجميلة د. خالد خريس، ومدير عام الثقافة الايطالي البروفسور اومبرتو بروكلي، والدكتورة لوكريزيا اونجار، ومديرة متحف مركاتي دي تريانو في روما، وعدد من السلك الدبلوماسي العربي والأجنبي في ايطاليا، وأفراد من الجالية الأردنية، ويأتي
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ضم معرض مقتنيات صاحب السمو الشيخ محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم، نائب رئيس الدولة رئيس مجلس الوزراء حاكم دبي، 38 عملاً فنياً لأشهر الفنانين العرب والإماراتيين الذين أسهموا في إثراء الحركة الفنية، بتنوع أعمالهم التي حصد بعضها جوائز عالمية، وتزخر ببعضها الآخر المتاحف الفنية والمؤسسات الثقافية في مختلف دول العالم، ومن أبرزهم المصري مصطفى عبدالمعطي والجزائرية بايه محيي الدين والليبي علي عمر أرميص والقطري يوسف أحمد والكويتي سامي محمد.
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Family life is extremely private in the Gulf. In a way, it is not surprising that people who dress so conservatively, with women shrouded in black and men cloaked in white, should be so guarded in showing a public face.
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Every one of my visits to the leafy home of the man widely considered one of the world’s greatest living Arabic artists, Ali Omar Ermes, reveals a new aspect of the painter and his work, but one thing is clear from the start: he is a thinker and an intellectual, as much as a gifted artist.
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To celebrate Dubai’s winning bid to host the World Expo 2020, Swiss watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre commissioned Ali Omar Ermes to create ‘The Expo painting’ named Tawasul Al-Himam – ‘The Continuum of Resolve’.
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Philanthropy Age is delighted to be auctioning The Sixth Ode by internationally acclaimed Arabic artist Ali Omar Ermes at the Christie’s Middle East sale of Arabic, Iranian and Turkish art on Wednesday, March 19th, 2014. The charity proceeds of the special lot will be donated to the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, to assist in its efforts to aid those affected by the ongoing crisis in Syria.
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Ali Omar Ermes is a prolific artist, writer, and community activist. Since 1968, he has created ‘literary artworks’, paintings based on Arabic literature and letters. Often in his compositions, such as the piece included here, Ermes focuses on the single letter lam. With stunning colour and deft technique, Ermes infuses the letter with vibrant character and an unfolding visual narrative.
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Writing in Arabic is not only a consistent and powerful theme in classical Islamic art but it also resonates with contemporary artists as both an art form and an expression of their cultural or religious identity. In his work, Ermes focuses on a single letter, here a kaf (K). The bold, black letter dramatically offset against the light paper recalls the black inscriptions on a white ground that characterize tenth-century Islamic ceramic wares.
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