A New Book by Fayeq Oweis, Ph.D

see the table of contents and sample pages

Over the past ten years, I have created a number of art pieces and worked on major artistic projects and murals. I decided to collect most of my work and present it in this book at the request of many friends and supporters. The artwork in this book is divided into six series:
--The Spiritual Series which contains my early pieces that I started when I was working on my Ph.D. dissertation. This series contains images of spiritual nature that include the word “God” and Qur’anic verses and prayers. This series is in the collections of Farhat Art Museum.
--The Kalimaat Series which contains individual words from the Arabic language where each word forms a pattern or a shape. In most cases, the shape or form gives an idea about the content of each piece. This series is in the collections of Farhat Art Museum.
--The Poetry Series which includes 7 verses of poetry on the theme of the eyes and their charms, These pieces were created using Square Kufic style of Arabic calligraphy.
--The Huruuf Series which contains the 28 letters of the Arabic alpha­bet. Each letter forms its own pattern. This series is also in the collec­tions of Farhat Art Museum.
--The Divine Names Series which contains the 99 names of God. These were created using traditional Kufic style for an animation project that was displayed in an art exhibit.
--My Alphabet Series which contains 28 words based on the letters of the Arabic alphabets where each word indicates a quality, an attribute or a description of how one feels about the person he/she loves.
I have also included in this book a number of articles about some of the projects I have worked on, such as the Edward Said Mural, the Arab Cultural Mural, and the Arab American National Museum.  An article about Islamic Art that I wrote for a national magazine is also included. The Arabic pages include a transcript of an interview with Aljazeera chan­nel which highlights my life and work. Few articles in both English and Arabic regarding my book Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists are also included. Through out the book, my biography and selected images are also included.

Fayeq Oweis is an Arab American artist, educator, and linguist.  He received his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies with Concentration on Arabic and Islamic Studies focusing on Creative & Visual Arts from the Union Institute and University.  Oweis is currently teaching Arabic Language and Culture at Santa Clara University and San Jose State University and has taught for over three years at San Francisco State University .  Oweis works on contemporary Islamic art and Arabic calligraphic compositions and has participated in a number of exhibits in California , Minnesota , Washington DC , and Florida . He designed the exterior entranceway murals and the calligraphy of the dome at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn , Michigan . He also co-designed and directed the first Arabic/Islamic mural in San Francisco , and he was a lead artist for the Palestinian Cultural mural honoring Dr. Edward Said at San Francisco State University .   Oweis was the president of ZAWAYA, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Arabic art and culture. He has written a number of articles and gave numerous presentations on Arab American Artists, Arabic Calligraphy, and Islamic art.  He is the author of "Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists," an award winning book featuring 100 Arab American visual artists. In addition to his academic and artistic work, Oweis also works as an Arabic localization consultant for some Internet companies in the Silicon Valley.