Islamic Calligraphy- Art Paintings

By: Rana Riaz Ahmad of Pakistan

Dot to Design
Mr. Rana Riaz Ahmad is amongst the growing number of Pakistani Calligraphy-artists. Born in Amritsar in 1946, he trained as a graphic designer in Lahore. His travels to Europe and the United States, his visits to important galleries and art collections sensitized him to western aesthetics and equipped him to visualize innovative possibilities in the great heritage of Islamic calligraphy. Combining Eastern and Western aesthetics in his work, he joins the thriving new art movement on the international scene: Calligraphy-art.
Works of Calligraphy-art have the advantage of being read both from left to right - as the western eye is trained as well as from right to left, as in the Arabic-Persian-Urdu tradition. This added dimension in works of Calligraphy-art facilitates enjoyment by the uninitiated as abstract compositions on the one hand. On the other, transcending the rules of calligraphy, Calligraphy-art takes the more difficult path of speaking to the initiated who understand or can comprehend the text as well as enjoy composition, color, rhythm, on more levels than one.
A major movement in the Muslim world, it has such contemporary Calligraphy-art masters as Dr. Ahmad Moustafa of Britain, Yousef Chen Jin Hui and Salih Li Wencai of China, Dr. Muhammad Ghanoum of Syria, Hanif Ramay and Ahmad Khan of Pakistan, among others.
R.R. Ahmad’s works reflects an awareness of the rhythm and flow of letters as well a contrast and harmony of colors. His letters-shapes, though rendered by brush, embody the cursive sweep of the calligrapher’s pen. They are inspired by the thuluth style, while celebrating the structured freedom of the diwani. But R.R. Ahmad’s letters are unadorned, without their serifs and ornamental embellishments. They combine and conjugate with discernible logic: Some are given full freedom, the shapes realized completely; others are muted, curtailed, truncated to suit the compositions. This is in defiance of the norms of traditional calligraphy in which each letter of the alphabets has an initial, median and final shape. There is the austerity of Kufi and it gives the work a monumental quality.
The Calligraphy-art works are painstakingly built up. On an undercoat, color is used to define the text. Then dots are employed. The texture achieved, in various tones of the same tint, gives the letters, and ultimately the compositions, the richness of three layers of reverse depth. The dots or nuqta take colorful journeys in and outside the letter-shapes, illuminating the background to impart a spatial, graded lightness. The scatter of dots behind the letters signify a source of light symbolic of the Divine Light of Knowledge. The single word or sacred phrase is so executed that the central rendering is smaller than the orchestrated larger renderings of the same text in the background. The text swells backwards, echoing outwards. Or the larger renderings focus forward to the smaller more meticulously painted version. The 3-layered words of each composition of Divine Words and His many names, dances to the Glory of God.
Ultimately R.R. Ahmad’s works may be seen as falling in the Symbolic Calligraphy-art category along with that of Ahmad Khan, Ismail Gulgee and Amin Gulgee..
In Rana Riaz Ahmad’s creative works, the most pleasant and alluring combination of modern and old styles of calligraphy is found. On the one hand, he is a trustee of a centuries old tradition of calligraphy, on the other he produces new dimensions through unique selections of the word’s love and wisdom. He has absorbed the names of ALLAH. Some refresh the memory of handwritten manuscripts of the Holy Qur’an while revealing through with the flow of time and though provoking and charming, the ever-increasing meanings of the Holy Qur’an.
آ 
Muhammad Haneef Ramay
Calligraphy Artist
“Former Chief Minister of Punjabâ€‌
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Paintings:
In painting, a rendezvous of soaring atmospheric colors and twinkling tiny particles in the light in a desired form is named “Pointillismâ€‌. Its founder is George Surat and he loved it to be called Divisionalism. He created many adorable scenes of the bathing people in River Sane in Paris by using his art and carved for himself an unforgettable position in the domain of Art and Painting. This pointillism owing to its internal power and external charm has opened various venues of excellence to the painters of the last century.
R.R. Ahmad appears to belong to such a fortunate family of artists. He has since rendered various compositions and garbed the points of color and light and particles into Calligraphic Paintings of great fascination and attraction. These compositions depict a unique experiment, wherein the colors have been assimilated into light and light has been composed into color and an inter-exchange of the impressions from word to word and create an atmosphere of extraordinary dissemination and compatibility. And definitely this experiment is a loud expression of Sufism and it tells us that a saint dwells within Rana Riaz Ahmad. Therefore, the usage of pointillism technique is quite apt and extemporaneous and it verifies the ornamental garments of the saint as Rana Riaz Ahmad has frequented the texture of his paintings within the limits of classical Calligraphy.
Rana Riaz Ahmad appears to have dived into the river of spiritualism and has brought with him to the surface such pearls and artifacts which do provide a potent material for the innate satisfaction for all those who are blessed with the qualities of heart and sight. To me Rana Riaz Ahmad is a great artist; and seeing his compositions itself provide lots of spiritual benefits which are nothing before the worldly gains; and do reveal to us the highly regarded mottoes of the creation of Adam (AS) with great success and attraction.

Aminul Islam Amin
Birth : 1st January, 1964, Shikarpur, Bogra, Bangladesh.
Education : Bachelor of Fine Arts (BAFA) Dhaka-1987.
: Diploma in Graphics. Modern Training.
: Academy, Bogro-1999
The Background of Artistic Activities.
Co-curricular Activities : Workshop. 4 month. 1982.
: Arching & Engraving. Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka.
Group Exhibitions : 1982, Young Artist Exhibition. Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka.
: 1986/87, Bulbul Lalitakolo Academy, Dhaka.
: 2002, 5th Calligraphy Exhibition, National Museum Loby, Dhaka.
: 2002, International Conference on Calligraphy of the Islamic World,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Solo Exhibition : 2000, Shilpakala Academny, Bogro.
: 2001, Gela Parishead, Bogro.
Experience : Staff Artist - The Daily Cadni Bazar.
: Senior Artist - Ad.Inter. Dhaka.
: Senior Artist - Mousumyu Advertising, Dhaka.
: Art Director - Shilpayon Ad. Form, Bogra.
Collections: : 6th Orghnirtion for Bogra.
: Gastro Livers Clinic, Dhaka.
: Ibn Sina Clinic, Dhaka.
: Daily Jugantor, Dhaka.
: Naba Puthighar Prokoshani, Dhaka.
Recognition of Work
: Created more than 200 Calligraphy.
: Cover Designs for 500 Books & Journals.
Present Address: : 28, Kagojitola, Sutrapur, Dhaka-1100.
Permanent Address : Shikarpur (Talukderpara), Bogra, Bangaladesh.
Calligrapher Aminul Islam Amin
On the Occasion of 10th International Qur’an Exhibition in Tehran (Iran), the Ministry of Culture of Iran, congratulates Aminul Islam Amin Meritorious Artist of Bangladesh and a member of the Calligraphy Society of Bangladesh.
Calligrapher Aminul Islam Amin participated in the Calligraphy Exhibition which is arranged by the Calligraphy Society of Bangladesh.
The Form and Color Composition of Amin’s work is very commendable. His work makes a creative path in calligraphy art. His art work is best regarded in Bangladesh and we know that it will be well received in the International Exhibition.
(Ibrahim Mondol)
Founder President,
Calligraphy Society Bangladesh.
آ  * Nun. [These Letters (Nun, etc.) are one of the Miracles of the Qur’an, and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings]. I swear by the pen and by what (the angels) they write.
(Surah Al-Qalam :1)
آ  * And in your own souls (too): will you not then see? (Surah Az-Zariat: 21)
آ  * Every soul must taste of death... (Surah Al-Anbiya: 35)
آ  * ....Our Lord! Thou hast not created this in vain!Glory be to Thee: save us then from the chastisement of the fire. (Surah Al-e-Imran: 191)
آ  * The believers are but brethren, therefore make peace betweenyour brethren and be creful of (your duty to) Allah that mercy may be had to you. (Surah Al-Hujurat:10)
آ  * Or like abundant rain from the cloud is which is utter darkness and thundre and lightning : they put their fingers into their ears because of the thunder peal, for fear of death, and Allah encompasses the unbelievers.(Surah Al-Baqarah:19)
آ  * The passenger of a boat. (Al-Hadith)
آ  * Is there a god with Allah? Nay! most of them do not know. (Surah An-Naml:61)
آ  * Ya-Sin [These letters are one of the Miracles of the Qur’an, and none but Allah (Alone) Knows their meanings].
* I swear by the Qur’an full of wisdom (Surah Ya-Sin:1-2)
آ  * ...And He has made the ships subservient to you, that they might run their course in the sea by His command; and He has made rivers subservient to you.
* And He has made subservient to you the sun and the moon pursuing their courses, and and He has made subservient to you thew night and the day. (Surah Ibrahim:32-33)
آ  * And hold fast to the covernant of Allah all together and be not disunited,.... (Surah Al-e-Imran: 103)