Ishak was born in Cairo, moved to Melbourne in 1982. He now lives and works in Melbourne.
Read MoreWorking across painting, installation and site-specific drawing, Raafat Ishak's practice is informed by architecture and his Arabic cultural heritage. Using a formal but understated graphic language, where distinctive lines enclose curved, square or rectangular shapes that have been slowly built up in pastel shades on unprimed MDF, Ishak seamlessly mixes the personal with the political in a way that highlights the circularity and interdependency of these relationships. Underscored by a utopian, romantic tendency, his work is subtle, contemplative and alive to the nuances of cross-cultural dialogue and transit.
Recent individual exhibitions include: Proposition for a banner march and a black cube hot air balloon (in collaboration with Tom Nicholson), Shepparton Art Museum, Victoria, 2012; and Raafat Ishak: Work in Progress, The Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne, 2010. Ishak has also presented significant bodies of work at Art Dubai, with Sutton Gallery, in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Selected group exhibitions include: Safar/ Voyage: Contemporary Works by Arab, Iranian and Turkish Artists, Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 2013; Terms & Conditions, Singapore Art Museum, 2013; Nahrain, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney, 2013; Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria, 2013; Shifting Geometries, Embassy of Australia, Washington DC, 2012; The Other's Other, Artspace, Sydney, 2012; Alienation, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2012; The Future of a Promise, Venice Biennale, 2011; NEW010, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, 2010; Cubism and Australian Art, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2009; and The 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2009.
