Etel Adnan, Le Depart and Shemza, Meem Two

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The Differing and Similar Strokes of Le Dpart and Meem Two
The paintings Le Depart and Meem Two by Etel Adnan and Shemza, respectively, indeed
are a work of art. The Le Depart, published in 2013 by Etel Adnan, is a multi-media made out of
wool (Kurjaković). Whereas Meem Two, published in 1967, is made entirely out of oil paints, a
popular go-to medium of the artist Anwar Jalal Shemza (Fakhr). This essay aims to analyze the
subject of the art work, the style, representation of culture and their influence as well as draw
comparisons and contrast the painting based on their art style, motifs, medium, and color palette
to extract the artwork's actual meaning.
The painting, Le Depart, is a compilation of ecstatic and visionary metaphors as is most
of Etel Adnan’s work – be it literary compositions, poetry or visual art. The piece constitutes of
the basic use of three primary colours, saturated in nature and flowing from the center of the
canvas to the borders in line. Whereas, the painting, Meem Two, fixates on the Arabic
letter meem "‫"م‬ (most commonly associated with the English letter m). There is the repetition of
the letter four times in the straight lines of navy blue. Two of the stokes originate from the
middle of the canvas and move upward, whereas the other two strokes move towards the canvas's
bottom. The four meems meet another at the round part of the letter and neatly placed with the
inner circle accentuated in bright orange with precise strokes of pale green at the letters' negative
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space. Lastly, a dark grey has been used to border the letters creating an overall phallic shape
differentiated from a different, lighter tone grey that covers the background.
Etel Adnan has become a recent artist the world is currently obsessed with. Her artwork
is bold and eccentric which draws the audience towards her. She, through her art, expresses her
opinions regarding her culture and politics of Lebanon and Paris. She has a dynamic work
portfolio and does not only dabble in the field of visual art but prose as well. She truly is a
modern-inheritor of a twentieth century movements similar to Dad and surrealism which is fluid
movement of colour between mediums that attract ass public, especially Adnan’s primary
audience of Paris. Similarly, Anwar Jalal Shemza reflects modernism of calligraphy which was
welcomed by the masses [ CITATION Dad09 \l 1033 ]. The area within which he resided,
London, was populated with westerns which were quite fascinated with the modern adaption of
the otherwise ornate calligraphic art style and perhaps, this is the reason why his art is studied
with great detail.
The painting Le Depart is influenced by modern day politics of around the world. The
paintings are versatile and embody the vents taking place around the world welcoming all kinds
of audience. The painting by Shemza is heavily influenced by the religion of Islam and the
Mughal architecture. This interest of Shemza was studied in various other art pieces as well
including Forms Emerging and Chessmen One 1961. The painting breaks away from the ornate
and decorative nature of calligraphic lines and can be translated into the formalist observation of
geometric forms [ CITATION Ley11 \l 1033 ]. The letter meem also has importance in Islamic
culture as it is driven from the initials of the Prophet Muhammad [ CITATION She89 \l 1033 ].
His work has quite clearly been developed on the basis of abstraction fused with the motifs of
Islam with western abstractions.

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The art style of Le Depart follows a free flow of hand movement. The strokes are
comparatively placed or to be correctly woven with a sense of freedom. The painting reflects her
opinion of political conditions around iconograph. The work is a byproduct of experimentation
and mirrors her idea of being in a colour. The free flow and the bright saturated primary colours
are a reflection of beauty, free spirit and celebration of colours. Whereas the strokes of oil paint
in Meem Two are calculated and organized. The art style of Meem Two is heavily influenced by
Islamic design and Mughal architecture. The piece explores a relationship between simple
geometrical shapes, providing an infinitude of flexible interpretations and configurations. This
piece is also reflective of the journey Shemza has had with Arabic and Persian calligraphy.
The art piece are similar in their use of bright colour on a contrasting background which
makes the colour pop out extremely clearly. The backgrounds of both the paintings are simple,
tough differing in tones and colour schemes, the initial idea of the paintings appear to be similar;
contrasting colours on a simple plain background. The strokes of paint are similar to the lines
woven. However, the motif differs. Additionally, the use of bright colour showcases the
impactful vision of both artists. The differences lie in the colour palette as well. Adnan makes
use of vibrant primary colours. Whereas, Shemza uses greyish tones of navy blue and a strike of
orange and pale green in the middle. The mood of the paintings are quite difference. The medium
of the paintings differ as well. One is made out of wool, which expresses warmth and closure.
Whereas, the oil painting depicts the elegance and versatility of the artistic vision.
Both the paintings are revolutionary for their time as they introduced concepts otherwise
not welcomed. Adnan aimed to introduce a free-flowing technique to address the political
instability. Whereas, Shemza modernized the decorative nature of calligraphy. Both the artists
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are gems for their era and have greatly advance the plight of art for their respective causes. That
is something their audience admires and adds to the importance of as to why they are continually
studied. They both have so much to offer to the world of art.

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Bibliography
Dadi, Iffithar. "Persppectives 1 - Anwar Jalal Shemza." Dadi, Iffithar. Calligraphic Modernism.
London, 2009.
Fakhr, Leyla. "Meem Two." Tate Organization January 2011.
Kurjaković, Daniel. "Every One of Us is a Radio Transmitter ." Art Asia Spacific 14 October
2015.
Shemza, Mary. "Anwar Jalal Shemza: Search for Cultural Identity." Third Text 3.8 (1989): 65-
87.

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[Last Name] 1

The Differing and Similar Strokes of Le Dpart and Meem Two

to extract the artwork's actual meaning.

The painting, Le Depart, is a compilation of ecstatic and visionary metaphors as is most

with great detail.

Islam with western abstractions.

opinion of political conditions around iconograph. The work is a byproduct of experimentation

geometrical shapes, providing an infinitude of flexible interpretations and configurations. This

studied. They both have so much to offer to the world of art.

Fakhr, Leyla. "Meem Two." Tate Organization January 2011.

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