Horse in the Desert

Despite his enduring relationship with the art of calligraphy and hurufiyya, Qatari artist Ali Hassan has established a particularly distinctive relationship with the Arabic letter 'Noon' (ن). Hassan has dedicated over three decades to exploring the form and significance of this particular letter. In this painting, he transforms the stylised letterforms, among which two iterations of 'Noon' are particularly prominent, into an abstract horse— a symbol of strength and chivalry uniting with the letter Noon’s mystical power.

In this composition, Hassan employs a combination of curvilinear and angular elements to simultaneously emphasise the aesthetic qualities of Arabic letterforms. The artist pays homage to his early artistic practice as a calligrapher by incorporating small calligraphic elements within the horse anatomy and employing large brushstrokes that evoke the effect of a calligrapher's qalam (pen).