Ghostly Calligraphies

Though calligraphy is the art of writing, that art is measured by the interpretation of the beholder. Using the tools of a writer, whether that be the brush, ink, paint or pen the artist can create a connection between symbol and gesture. Unsurprisingly, calligraphy finds a home in the Abstract Expressionism movement that followed the end of World War II. The likes of Jasper Johns, Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler and Franz Kline sought to create deeper connections with the self and express what was reserved for the interior in a much more honest way. But that interior may be filled with an interest in the fantastic, plagued by grief or consumed by miserabilism. Though Kline is the artist from the movement of Abstract Expressionism most associated with the use of calligraphy, Bernard Buffet, featured here on Artsper, also began to convey the personality of his interior by 1947 – after war had ended. The Parisian-born Buffet tried to save money and used very little paint on his canvases. Therefore there was little variety in color, and mostly grey, black and green tones are seen in his portraits. The grey faces, wrinkled foreheads, thinning hair and contracted hands took on a crucified, ghostly appearance. Whilst the likes of Bruno Mallart modernizes his version of ghostly calligraphies by merging it with digital techniques.