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CUNEIFORMISM

The wedge-shaped symbol in ten main shapes called CUNEIFORM is the oldest complete writing system created in ancient Mesopotamia, aka the Cradle of Civilization, and was used from the 5th Millennium BC to the 1st Millennium AD. The Cuneiform was developed from a much older Mesopotamian writing system called the Pictograph, which was somewhat similar to what we use and known today as Emoji. It was simply the Emoji of prehistoric time, but for more serious communications!

Since the 8th millennium BC, The Mesopotamian Pictographs used simplified images and miniature 3D artistic shapes to communicate, i.e., basic information about crops, livestock, taxes, and more.

Many modern artists used Cuneiform as a decorative touch within their artworks without even knowing or understanding what it means. Even the words they copied were not properly inscribed. The author of this article, whose Ph.D. studied in part these two most ancient writing systems, used Cuneiform symbols and words in his artworks since the 90s. However, including these symbols and syllabic scripts in his artworks as part of many other visual elements was occasionally complementary.   

That was not the case of the creator of the CUNEIFORMISM style, artist John Romi.

Artist John Romi has been studying and developing his style since the beginning of 2004. The presence of the Cuneiform in his work is neither decorative nor complementary.

What makes his work a one-of-a-kind style is that the Cuneiform is the centerpiece of the work as a subject and composition.
Throughout the years, Artist John Romi successfully created a style that no other artist worldwide has utilized.

Artist John Romi’s work does not focus on the aesthetic themes only through the variety of the texture, colors, or the geometric composition, but on how much energy and attraction it could produce!

Therefore, CUNEIFORMISM is a genuine style that sooner or later would be an international movement for so many artistic, historical and aesthetic factors.

Amer Hanna Fatuhi, PhD
Visual Artist, Art Critic, & Historian

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> Courtesy of EA Art Gallery - Original Article >>