Geometry and Art

A comprehensive survey on Islamic geometry in modern and contemporary art.

In a groundbreaking volume about the use of Islamic geometry in modern and contemporary art from the region, Middle East art expert and Sothebys Deputy Chairman Roxane Zand, and Dr Sussan Babaie professor of Islamic arts at the Courtauld Institute of Art of the University of London, explore ways in which traditional geometric legacies are applied and interpreted in new contexts. Dr Babaie’s scholarly essay traces the significance of geometry in the history of Islamic arts, looking at the emergence of modernisms of the Middle East through the prism of selected works by twenty artists and their multidisciplinary practices. Their works underscore the distinctive ways geometry, a universal heritage, has inspired the art of the region. Lavishly illustrated and bound, the book is aimed at both the general user and those with academic interest.

About the Authors

Harvard and Oxford educated, Roxane Zand began her career at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, moving to the UK in1980 where she pursued her interest in the arts. In Iran for a period she was art critic at leading newspaper Kayhan International, as well as head of art publications at the Niavaran Cultural Centre. Following freelance work at the British Museum and the V&A, as well as at the Noor Foundation, she joined Sothebys in 2006 where she is now Deputy Chairman for the Middle East. She has been appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London for her services to Middle Eastern art, and is an avid blogger on the topic of art and culture from the Middle East.

Sussan Babaie teaches the history of Islamic art and architecture at The Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. She is the author, co-author and editor of several books and articles including, most recently, Honar: The Afkhami Collection of Modern and Contemporary Iranian Art (2017) The Mercantile Effect: On Art and Exchange in the Islamicate World During the 17th and 18th Centuries (2017), Persian Kingship and Architecture: Strategies of Power in Iran from the Achaemenids to the Pahlavis (2014), and Shirin Neshat (2013).