Mehdi MOUTASHAR
Born in 1943 in Hilla (Babylon), Iraq. Lives and works in Arles, France.
1966 — Graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, Iraq
1970 — Graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France
1973 — Group exhibition, Contact Art Gallery, Beirut 1974 — Paris Biennial. Moves to Arles. Joins the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, as professor
1989 — Solo exhibition, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
1974–2008 — Professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
2010 — Group exhibition with François Morellet, Institut des Cultures de l’Islam, Paris
2015 — Thoughts around the Black Square (Tribute to Malevich), Vasarely Museum, Budapest, Hungary
2016 — Beyond Form, joint exhibition with Richard Serra, Palais du Tau, Reims, France
2018 — Joint winner of the Jameel Prize 5, Victoria & Albert Museum, London 2019 — Solo exhibition, Hoffmann Gallery, Friedberg, Germany
2021 — Cardinal Points, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai. Racines carrées, AL/MA Gallery, Montpellier. Abbaye de Cluny, France 2022 — TRAME, Abbaye de Cluny, France
2023 — Introspection as Resistance, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar. Frieze Masters Spotlight, London
2024 — First permanent public artwork Aspire House commissioned for Aspire Park, Qatar Museums. Group exhibition, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris
2025 — Form and Rhythm, Sotheby’s Dubai. Islamic Arts Biennale, Jeddah
Collections — Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Qatar Museums; Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Cincinnati Art Museum; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; Bibliothèque Nationale de France; National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad
Mehdi Moutashar is a Franco-Iraqi artist whose practice sits at the crossroads of two great artistic traditions: Western geometric abstraction and the aesthetic heritage of Islamic art. Shaped from childhood by the arabesques of mosques, the shadow play of palm groves and the ornamental motifs of Mesopotamia, he has developed a visual language that is at once rigorous and poetic.
His work explores geometry in its most etymological sense — measuring the earth — through constructions, wall pieces and installations that question the relationships between line, space and movement. His geometric figures are never fixed within definitive contours: they remain open, fragmentary, in perpetual flux, creating a subtle tension between mathematical order and a sense of flow.
Working primarily with black, white and ultramarine blue — the emblematic colour of the glazed bricks of ancient Mesopotamia — Moutashar produces works of great economy of means, in which every angle, every line carries both a visual and a philosophical weight.
Education
- 1966 — Graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, Iraq
- 1967 — Arrival in Paris
- 1970 — Graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris
Teaching
- 1974–2008 — Professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
Solo Exhibitions
- 1989 — Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
- 2011 — Kleine Museum, Weissenstadt, Germany
- 2012 — Galerie AL/MA, Montpellier
- 2013 — Linde Hollinger Gallery, Ladenburg, Germany
- 2014 — Le Petit Temple Gallery, Lasalle, France
- 2016 — Galerie Victor Sfez, Paris. Galerie AL/MA, Montpellier
- 2017 — Measuring Space, National Theatre & Albareh Gallery, Bahrain
- 2019 — Galerie Hoffmann, Friedberg, Germany
- 2021 — Cardinal Points, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai. Racines carrées, Galerie AL/MA, Montpellier. Abbaye de Cluny, France
- 2022 — TRAME, Abbaye de Cluny, France
- 2023 — Introspection as Resistance, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha. Frieze Masters Spotlight, Lawrie Shabibi, London
- 2024 — First permanent public artwork Aspire House, Aspire Park, Qatar Museums
- 2025 — Form and Rhythm, Sotheby’s Dubai, in collaboration with Lawrie Shabibi
Group Exhibitions (selection)
- 1973 — Group exhibition, Contact Art Gallery, Beirut
- 1974 — Paris Biennial
- 2010 — Exhibition with François Morellet, Institut des Cultures de l’Islam, Paris
- 2015 — Thoughts around the Black Square (Tribute to Malevich), Vasarely Museum, Budapest
- 2016 — Beyond Form, with Richard Serra, Palais du Tau, Reims
- 2018 — Espace Oblique, Galerie Denise René, Paris. Baghdad Mon Amour, Institut des Cultures de l’Islam, Paris
- 2019 — Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai
- 2021 — Small is beautiful!, Galerie Denise René, Paris. Structure du Silence, Galerie Denise René, Paris
- 2024 — Arab Presences: Modern Art and Decolonisation, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris
- 2025 — Islamic Arts Biennale, Jeddah
Awards & Distinctions
- 2018 — Joint winner of the Jameel Prize 5, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Publications
- 2012 — Des angles remarquables, Éditions Méridianes
- 2014 — Monograph, Éditions Actes Sud (texts by François Barré, Pierre Manuel, Gérard Bodinier, Dominique Clévenot)
- Bilingual monograph (French/English), Éditions Méridianes & Bernard Chauveau, 280 pages
Public Collections (selection)
- Victoria & Albert Museum, London
- Qatar Museums, Doha
- Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris
- Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
- Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
- Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris
- Museum of Modern Art, Tunis
- National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad
- Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman
- Cincinnati Art Museum, USA
- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, USA
- Kleine Museum, Weissenstadt, Germany
- Klingspor Museum der Stadt, Offenbach, Germany
- Musée des Beaux-Arts, Chartres
- Museum of Art and History, Cholet
- Scandinavian Graphic Art Museum, Stockholm
- Ramzi & Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut