Letter Arts Review (formerly Calligraphy Review and originally Calligraphy Idea Exchange) is a quarterly magazine devoted to contemporary and historical lettering, calligraphy, typography, and text-based art The magazine was established in 1982. It is published by John Neal Bookseller. It is currently edited and designed by the calligrapher Christopher Caulderhead. The magazine is headquartered in Wheaton, Maryland, United States A juried issue showing contemporary developments within this field is published annually.

Hassan Massoudy (حسن المسعود الخطاط), born in 1944, is an Iraqi painter and calligrapher, considered by the French writer Michel Tournier as the "greatest living calligrapher", currently lives in Paris. His work has influenced a generation of calligraffiti artists.

Hassan Massoudy was born in 1944 in Najaf He grew up in a traditional society He moved to Baghdad in 1961, where he was apprenticed to various calligraphers and exhibited a talent for classic Arabic calligraphy.

In 1969 he fled Iraq for France, and after arriving in Paris in 1969, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts where he studied figurative painting However, he continued to work on calligraphy and paid for his studies, by doing headlines in calligraphy for Arabic magazines.

In 1972, he created, with the actor Guy Jacquet and later the musician Fawzi Al Aiedy, Arabesque, a public performance combining music, poetry and live calligraphies projected on a screen .

In 1995, he was involved in the design of the stage set for the ballet "Selim" with the dancer Kader Belarbi from the Opera de Paris and the singer Houria Aichi on a choreography from Kalemenis.

In 2005 he met the dancer and choreographer Carolyn Carlson, and the musician Kudsi Erguner. Together with three other dancers and three other musicians, they created the show "Metaphore", a harmony of music, dance and calligraphy. Massoudy has continued to live in France.

Massoudy has become an important influence on a generation of calligraffiti artists. The Tunisian street artist, el Seed, who uses calligraphy in his art, points to the work of Iraqi painter, Hassan Massoudy as a major source of inspiration, noting that "The work of Hassan Massoudy was totally out of anything I’ve seen from the way he shapes the letters to the colors he uses. He completely revolutionized the art of calligraphy."

From Wikipedia