Art Noor made his first oil painting at the age of 10, a 3 x 3 feet work on wooden board which almost took him two months to complete during his summer holidays. It was inspired by an abstract painting he had seen of the cubist period and was called The King and her Maids.
Currently based in Sharjah, UAE, Noor grew up in India where he is from. Following post graduate studies in communication and design, he worked for 20 years in advertising, all the while nurturing all his creative passions, namely photography, films, writing, and art. It is in 2003 that he started to paint full time, in the UAE, and two years later he started selling his art and set up a studio for himself in Sharjah airport free zone.
One of Noor’s landmark achievements has been to paint the 99 names of Allah, a task he had in earlier life never imagined he would tackle. However his passion for abstract work combined with the desire to address a specific topic as a point of focus for his work made the names of Allah a perfect project for him to embrace, not to mention the obvious spiritual dimension of the project. Noor produced a first set of 100 canvases over 2003 and 2004, and after four years devoting more time to another professional project, reverted to the task in 2008 with more time and freedom. Art experimentation and creation have been in main occupation ever since.
Noor’s work has been exhibited in high profile locations along the way, and recognition has been strong from professionals and the public alike.
“I love improvising at the moment, and do not follow the deterministic school of Painting”, says Noor. “I usually begin with anything - a line, a dot, a stain ... or something experimental, like… how about mixing coal with white paint? How about using compressed air instead of brushes? Or some object that I found lying around and I decide to use it for making the texture. But when I do it – I might like it or not. Depending on the outcome I keep taking next steps and the work keeps evolving. So the work is usually a process of discovery for me as well.”
