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Past Exhibitions

Browse the chronological list of past exhibitions at the Saint Louis University Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCRA), or search for a specific exhibition. Click “View” for more information about an exhibition. If you need further information about an exhibition, please contact us.

Painting Prayers: The Calligraphic Art of Salma Arastu

Painting Prayers: The Calligraphic Art of Salma Arastu

September 13, 2015 to December 6, 2015

Drawing on her Hindu and Muslim background, and combining expertise in Arabic calligraphy with Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting, Salma Arastu creates large, evocative canvases that invite viewers into quiet contemplation on texts from the Quran, the poet Rumi, and other sources.

Salma Arastu was born in Rajasthan, India, and graduated with a Masters in Fine Arts from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India. She presently resides in the San Francisco Bay area. Arastu works in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture. Her works are found in numerous private and public collections, such as the 9/11 Memorial Museum, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, Hyderabad, India; the National Gallery of Art, New Delhi, India; the Islamic Museum of Australia, Melbourne; and the State Museum of the Arts, Harrisburg, PA.

Raised in Hinduism, Arastu later embraced Islam through her marriage. While living in Iran and Kuwait, she was fascinated by the beauty of Arabic calligraphy and began incorporating passages into her work. The development of calligraphy using Arabic script is tightly woven into the fabric of Islam. Over the centuries distinctive artistic forms of Arabic letters have been developed both to honor the holy texts and as a form of creative expression. Arastu continues this tradition by employing passages from the Quran in many of her works.

The MOCRA exhibition includes works from two of her most recent series. "Celebration of Calligraphy" harmoniously blends traditional Arabic calligraphy with Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting, featuring lyrical, dynamic passages from the Quran flowing across dense layers of rich color. “Unity of Sacred Symbols and Texts” comprises several distinct elements, including circular mandala-like paintings; works by texts of thirteenth-century Persian poet Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi and sixteenth-century Hindu saint and mystic poetess Meera Bai; and paintings invoking four major faith traditions through texts in Arabic, Hebrew, English, and Sanskrit. Painting Prayers also features a companion display of manuscript leaves from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries, drawn from the Saint Louis University Libraries Special Collections.

Download an information sheet about Painting Prayers.

I paint to express the prayers of my heart, and intend for the energy of the calligraphy, powered by the positive messages from the texts, to reveal the joy and celebration that I experience while creating them. Each verse I portray gives me strength and peace, and I hope to instill these feelings in my viewers. | Salma Arastu

above:
Salma Arastu, Healing Prayer, 2014. Acrylic on canvas. MOCRA collection. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Related programming

So That You Know Each Other: Intercultural Reflections on Art, Beauty, and Islam

Watch So That You Know Each Other: Intercultural Reflections on Art, Beauty, and Islam

Watch a PBS "Arts America" segment on Painting Prayers

Listen to an interview with Salma Arastu on St. Louis Public Radio's "Cityscape"