Influenced by the tradition of 16th century Mughal miniature art, Imran Qureshi creates abstract paintings and site-specific installations. His practice combines decorative motifs and traditional techniques with conceptual and contemporary painting styles.
Read MoreQureshi is regarded as one of Pakistan's most important contemporary artists. His work was exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2013 and 2015. He lives and works in Lahore, Pakistan.
Imran Qureshi was born in Hyderabad, Pakistan. In the early 90s, he attended the National College of Arts in Lahore where he studied landscape and miniature painting. Having mastered the technique he began to focus on the labour-intensive craft of copying classic works in miniature.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1993, Qureshi started exhibiting work in solo and group exhibitions in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. His first solo exhibition was at the Alliance Française Gallery in Lahore in 1995.
Imran Qureshi's artistic style is influenced by intricate Mughal court paintings from the 16th to 19th century. His work usually depicts figures, body parts, plants, animals, and calligraphic script. Qureshi's signature style features the use of gold leaf contrasted with red acrylic paint.
Blessings Upon the Land of My Love (2011) is a site-specific installation that was commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation in the United Arab Emirates. In this work, Qureshi used acrylic and emulsion paint on the brick floor of a courtyard inside Bait Al Serkal, a heritage building in Sharjah.
The installation depicts delicately-drawn floral forms reminiscent of the foliage commonly found in the Basohli Hills in Kashmir. The floral patterns have been splattered and doused in pools of red paint suggestive of bloodstains, evoking the violence and harsh political realities of the Middle East and Pakistan.
By portraying organic forms in a macabre setting, Qureshi considers the space between life and death in contemporary society. For the artist, 'the flowers that emerge from the paint represent the hope that—despite everything—the people sustain somehow... for a better future'.
The Roof Garden Commission: Imran Qureshi, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2013)
For this commission, Qureshi painted intricate miniaturist patterns splattered with red paint on the Roof Garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Similarly to Blessings Upon the Land of My Love, this commission reflects on the increasingly frequent violent acts of terrorism in contemporary society and is a direct response to the brutal bombings in Lahore. By placing the work in the United States, Qureshi invites the audience to consider the relationship and cross-cultural tensions between Islam and the West.
'Yes, these forms stem from the effects of violence,' Qureshi said of his visceral blooms of paint that also echoed the lush foliage of nearby Central Park. 'They are mingled with the colour of blood, but, at the same time, this is where a dialogue with life, with new beginnings and fresh hope starts.'
In 2001, Qureshi participated in an arts residency at the Liverpool School of Arts, John Moores University. In the same year, he completed a residency at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
In 2011, Qureshi was awarded the Sharjah Biennial Prize from the Sharjah Art Foundation in the UAE. In 2013, he was the recipient of the Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year Award.
Qureshi has exhibited work in several biennales including the Venice Biennale in 2013 and Lahore Biennale 01, Pakistan in 2018.
Imran Qureshi's artwork is included in the collections of a number of established galleries and institutions. Selected collections include Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Kadist Art Foundation, Paris; Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka; National Art Gallery, Islamabad; The British Museum, London; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Imran Qureshi has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions.
Solo exhibitions include The Seeming Endless Path of Memory, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Pantin (2019); By the People, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C (2018); And That Is How We Loved This Too — This Land, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (2017); The Seeming Endless Path Of Memory, Museo Civico, San Gimignano, Sienna (2016); and Garden Within a Garden, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford (2016)__.
Group exhibitions include Amakin, Jeddah Saudi Art Council, Jeddah (2022); Miniature 2.0, Pera Museum, Istanbul (2020); Christian Louboutin: l'Exhibition(niste), Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris (2020); Imran Qureshi and Tomoaki Suzuki, Corvi-Mora, London (2019); and Abu Dhabi Art Beyond, Al Jahili Fort, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates (2018). ____
Imran Qureshi's Instagram can be found here.
Phoebe Bradford | Ocula | 2022
