The Manifestation Of The Imaginal World In Sohrab Sepehri's Abstract Paintings

Indeed, an artwork from everywhere around the world represents the culture which it is risen from. With regard to this fact, the link between art and mysticism in the context of Iranian culture is inevitable so that no one can deny the influential role of the mystical schools on the Iranian art and artists. One of the most significant subjects concerning the Iranian mysticism is the "Imaginal world" which was first articulated by Sheykh Ishraq (Sohrawardi). According to this theory the imaginal world is located somewhere between the intelligible and sensory worlds. Because of the relationship between the human imagination and the imaginal world, it has a considerable role in the process of the creation of art.The present study which has been conducted through a descriptive-analytic process, aimed at elaborating on the importance of the imaginal world in Sohrawardi's philosophy and its relationship with the creation of artwork. Moreover, the representation of this world on Sohrab Sepehri's abstract paintings has been investigated. It was concluded that, since Sepehri's thinking is influenced by Iranian mysticism, his abstract paintings can be analyzed based on the theories of light and color which in this paper Najm Kobra and Allao Dowlah Semnani views were taken into consideration.

Keywords:

Imaginal world , Sohrawardi , Sohrab Sepehri , Light and color , Mysticism