The artistic image of the linguistic text in contemporary Iraqi painting

Abstract

Research Summary

This research is concerned with the study of “The Artistic Image of the Linguistic Text in Contemporary Iraqi Painting.” It is organized into four chapters. The first chapter investigates the research problem, its significance, and defines the key terms used. The research problem addresses the fundamental transformations in contemporary Iraqi painting in terms of its styles and directions, influenced by the political, social, and cultural changes the country has undergone, as well as the Iraqi artist’s interaction with global trends in modern and contemporary art. Among the most prominent of these transformations is the emergence of the phenomenon of "the hybridization of the arts," particularly the interweaving of linguistic and visual texts within the visual artwork.

Language—whether poetry or prose—has become present within the visual composition of the pictorial artwork, such that words are no longer mere decorative elements but rather semantic components that establish a new aesthetic and epistemological structure. From this perspective, the research problem emerges: Do linguistic texts within contemporary Iraqi painting contribute to the creation of an independent and coherent artistic image? And does this interaction produce a new image that redefines the relationship between word and image within a visual artistic context?

As for the importance and necessity of the research, it lies in revealing the uniqueness of the Iraqi experience in contemporary art, particularly in integrating language within visual compositions. It also enhances the understanding of the aesthetic and intellectual reception of the artistic image in light of the interplay between textual (linguistic) and visual elements.

The research has a single objective: to identify the artistic image of the linguistic text in contemporary Iraqi painting. The research is limited to various artworks (on canvas or paper, executed in acrylic or Chinese ink) that include linguistic texts in either prose or poetry. The time frame is confined to the period between 2000 and 2025, which witnessed significant political and social changes in Iraq that were reflected in the experiences of Iraqi artists during that time.

Chapter Two (Theoretical Framework) consists of two sections: the first explores the development of the relationship between linguistic and visual texts in the arts, and the second examines the components of the artistic image between language and painting. Chapter Three presents the research procedures, defines the research population, and selects a sample consisting of three models. Chapter Four includes the research findings, the most important of which are:

1.    Contemporary Iraqi art relied on integrating linguistic or poetic texts into the painting, granting the composition a semantic depth that goes beyond form to meaning.

2.    The resulting artistic image from this interaction was not merely a visual-linguistic overlap, but rather a cognitive structure possessing independence in both composition and meaning.

Among the conclusions:

1.    The Iraqi artist did not limit himself to traditional means of visual expression but sought to incorporate language to generate more complex and profound compositional structures.

2.    The process of hybridization between visual and linguistic texts contributed to reshaping the concept of the image, which no longer serves merely as a mirror of reality, but rather as a fragmented discourse that merges the personal with the collective, and the spiritual with the material.