Les Sept Stations Célestes/ The Seven Heavenly Stations
Calligraphy is the most recognisable of Islamic art forms. Fluid lines and elegant Arabic letters are central to expressing the tenets of sacred texts. But waves of modern and contemporary artists have used this traditional form to create their own exposition of the divine. For Algerian-born Paris-based Rachid Koraïchi, who hails from a family of Quraishite’s or transcribers of Quranic text, calligraphy forms the bedrock of a highly personal lexicon of symbols and forms.
In his second exhibition, Les Sept Stations Célestes/The Seven Heavenly Stations at Aicon Gallery, three bodies of work centre on the mythic belief in the seven stations of heaven. Here, works are created in multiples of seven, symbolising spiritual perfection in many ancient religions of the world. In the first group, occupying the ground floor of the two-storey exhibition space, Koraïchi’s talismanic characters form grand columns resembling Egyptian tablets on twenty-one framed silk pennants. In Les Sept Variations Indigo (2002), hand-painted configurations, representing tales of love and life from Songs of the Recluse by the 18th century Sufi mystic Rabia al-Adawiyya, are suffused with signs inspired by Sufi philosophy and Arabic semiotics. Made in Aleppo, Syria using the ancient Middle Eastern technique of mixing indigo dye, the blue totemic-like paintings ascending above one’s head, evoke a sense of awe. One is instantly drawn to the enigmatic hieroglyphics, which, like prehistoric symbols, lure the viewer with their sobering grace and complex designs.
This unassuming beauty permeates Koraïchi’s work. A similar sense of harmony is seen in Les Sept Stations Célestes (2018), comprising seven ceramic vases on large wooden plinths at the centre of the pennant filled space. Made in Spain, the smaller exquisitely