Ali Omar Ermes (Arabic:علي عمر الرميص, born 1945) was a Libyan artist and author. His paintings make use of Arabic calligraphy, often superimposed on a rich-textured ground, and may incorporate fragments of Arabic or other poetry or prose.[1] He had lived in the United Kingdom since 1981, and was the chairman of the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in Kensington in west London; he was also active in other intellectual and cultural institutions in that city.[1]

Ali Omar Ermes
علي عمر الرميص
Born1945[1]
Tripoli, Libya
Died10 July 2021
NationalityLibyan[1]
Websitealiomarermes.co.uk

Biography

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Ermes was born in Zliten in Libya in 1945. He studied at the University of Plymouth School of Architecture and Design in Plymouth in south-west England, and after his graduation in 1970 returned to Libya.[1] There he wrote extensively and headed the visual arts section of All Arts magazine.[citation needed] In 1974 he was engaged as a "visual arts consultant" for the World of Islam Festival held in London in 1976, and visited many Islamic countries to identify possible participants in the festival.[2]: 45  From 1981 he lived in the United Kingdom.[1] Ermes has participated in various Muslim community projects, written about many important issues and has exhibited in some sixty to seventy exhibitions around the world.[3]

Exhibitions

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Ermes has shown work at the State Hermitage, St Petersburg, Russia (November 2007); the Fowler Museum of the University of California, Los Angeles, USA (October 2007/8); the National Museum of African Art of the Smithsonian Institution, USA (May 2007); Word into Art at the British Museum in London, and later Dubai (2006 and 2008); East-West: Objects Between Culture at Tate Britain (September 2006/7) and Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai (March 2008).

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Sheila S. Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom (2009). Ermes, Ali Omar. Grove Art Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T2082155. (subscription required).
  2. ^ Anneka Lenssen (2008). "Muslims to Take Over Institute for Contemporary Art": The 1976 World of Islam Festival. Middle East Studies Association Bulletin 42 (1/2): 40–47. (subscription required).
  3. ^ 'A lifetime of painting', Venetia Porter, Q News No: 302 & 303, London, 1 March 1999

also the publication Signs of Our Times, From Calligraphy to Calligrafitti, edited by Rose Issa, Merrill publications, London 2016

Further reading

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Articles in Arabic

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Articles by Ali Omar Ermes in Arabic

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