Lebanese artist Gebran Tarazi (1944-2010) grew up in the context of the very Levantine 200-year-old Tarazi woodworking tradition of the Levant, including traditional Arabic geometric art.

On Sublime Geometric Art Reflecting Gebran Tarazi’s Moroccan Passion

Rabat – Lebanese artist Gebran Tarazi (1944-2010) grew up in the context of the very Levantine 200-year-old Tarazi woodworking tradition of the Levant, including traditional Arabic geometric art.

As he also spent his childhood and youth in Morocco, the celebrated artist spoke the Moroccan dialect and throughout his life, all types of traditional Moroccan art on iron, silver, ceramics, leather and wood influenced his private life and overwhelmed his business career and memories.

One of Tarazi’s artistic patterns

The Lebanese Tarazi family has fond memories of Morocco’s independence in 1956, and Gebran Tarazi’s father, Alfred Tarazi, met King Mohamed V on several occasions as he was keen to get to know the Lebanese community living in Morocco in the 1950s.

Interestingly, Gebran Tarazi openly rejected the traditional art to which his family belonged, claiming to create his own name and his own modern and contemporary tradition. At the same time, however, he openly claimed an “oriental identity” in his art. There were Levantine, Moroccan, Arab and Islamic artistic influences, as well as some very clear convergences in the peculiar tradition of the Lebanese artist.

While acknowledging this general tendency in his art, Gebran Tarazi defined himself as an Arab Christian and refrained from any political or religious reference or allegiance. His true ambition was to assert himself in modern and contemporary art, and he was frustrated when he was classified as traditional.

Technically, the Qayem-Nayem concept (2 horizontal and 2 vertical rectangles forming a square) gives Gebran Tarazi an idiosyncrasy in a seemingly contemporary geometric pattern. However, he was skilled enough to transcend the basic square pattern of Qayem-Nayem into a philosophy.

To what extent is Qayem-Nayem Arabic or Oriental or a simple universal form found everywhere? The square became a symphony, and the non-arabic form of Qayem-Nayem became an arabesque.

Discipline and strict symmetry can be found in the traditional Arabesque. However, due to family reasons and problems, Gebran Tarazi wanted to break the lineage with Arabesque and especially with tradition.

Although he was very modest and genuinely authentic, and not widely recognized during his lifetime, he firmly believed in the greatness of his work and a certain future recognition after his death. He worked tirelessly day and night for 15 years. This literally ruined his health and “social life.”