Mehdi Moutashar French-Iraqi, b. 1943

Overview
Mehdi Moutashar, Deux carrés dont un encadré (Two squares, one of them framed), 2017, Wood, paint, elastic wire. One of the four minimalist geometric artworks part of Moutashar's Jameel Prize 5 presentation. Courtesy the Artist, V&A London and Art Jameel. Photo © Fabrice Leroux
Mehdi Moutashar, Deux carrés dont un encadré (Two squares, one of them framed), 2017, Wood, paint, elastic wire. One of the four minimalist geometric artworks part of Moutashar's Jameel Prize 5 presentation. Courtesy the Artist, V&A London and Art Jameel. Photo © Fabrice Leroux

Mehdi Moutashar (b. 1943, Hilla, Iraq) works at the confluence of two artistic traditions, the western heritage of geometric abstraction and the Islamic aesthetic tradition of geometrical order and line. His work develops a radical form of geometric abstraction in which figures are not enclosed within fixed contours but remain open, fragmentary and constantly shifting. Born near the ancient city of Babylon, he graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, in 1966 and from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, in 1970. His work has been exhibited internationally, including at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris; the Islamic Arts Biennale, Jeddah; Galerie Denise René, Paris; and Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, and is held in major collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Qatar Museums; Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; and the Cincinnati Art Museum.

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Works
  • Mehdi Moutashar, Cube, 1989
    Cube, 1989
  • Mehdi Moutashar, Deux rectangles dont un pivoté de 15°, 1979
    Deux rectangles dont un pivoté de 15°, 1979
  • Mehdi Moutashar, Alif, 2004
    Alif, 2004
  • Mehdi Moutashar, Ta, 2009
    Ta, 2009
  • Mehdi Moutashar, One Square and One Cube, 2019
    One Square and One Cube, 2019
  • Mehdi Moutashar, Three Squares, 2022
    Three Squares, 2022
  • Mehdi Moutashar, Vertical / Horizontal, Paris, 1968
    Vertical / Horizontal, Paris, 1968
  • Mehdi Moutashar, Zone EL 10, Paris, 1969
    Zone EL 10, Paris, 1969
Biography
Mehdi Moutashar, Paris, 1969
Mehdi Moutashar, Paris, 1969
Mehdi Moutashar (b. 1943, Hilla, Iraq) works at the confluence of two artistic traditions, the western heritage of geometric abstraction and the Islamic aesthetic tradition of geometrical order and line. His work develops a radical form of geometric abstraction in which figures are never enclosed within fixed contours but remain open, fragmentary and constantly shifting. Born in the city of Hilla, close to the ancient city of Babylon, he graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, in 1966 and from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, in 1970. He later became professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, where he taught from 1974 to 2008.
 
Moutashar has presented numerous solo exhibitions including Introspection as Resistance, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha (2023–2024); Frieze Spotlight with Lawrie Shabibi (2023); TRAME, Abbaye de Cluny, France (2022); Cardinal Points, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai (2021); Abu Dhabi Art with Lawrie Shabibi (2021); Racines carrées, AL/MA Gallery, Montpellier (2021); Hoffmann Gallery, Friedberg (2019); Measuring Space, National Theatre & Albareh Gallery, Bahrain (2017); Victor Sfez Gallery, Paris (2016); AL/MA Gallery, Montpellier (2016); and Kleine Museum, Weissenstadt (2011), among others.
 
Selected group exhibitions include Islamic Arts Biennale, Jeddah (2025); Arab Presences, Modern Art and Decolonisation (Paris 1908–1988), Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (2024); As by chance!, Museum of Art and History of Cholet (2023); Beirut and the Golden Sixties: A Manifesto of Fragility, Mathaf, Doha (2023) and the 16th Lyon Biennale (2022); Art Dubai with Lawrie Shabibi (2022); Galerie Denise René, Paris (2021, 2018); Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris (2018, 2010); Musée Vasarely, Budapest (2015); and Palais du Tau, Reims (2016), among others.
 
In 2018 he was awarded the Jameel Prize 5 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, for his work of minimalist abstraction rooted in Islamic geometry, exhibited as part of the finalists’ exhibition at the V&A (2018) and later at Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai (2019). In 2024, his first permanent public artwork Aspire House was commissioned for Aspire Park by Qatar Museums.
 
His work is held in major international collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Qatar Museums; Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris; Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur; Cincinnati Art Museum; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; Bibliothèque Nationale de France; National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; and the National Modern Art Museum, Baghdad, among others.
 
Moutashar lives and works in Arles, France.
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Exhibitions
Press
Publications
Video