b. 1982, Pakistan

Waqas Khan Biography

Waqas Khan makes large, minimalist ink drawings while in a tranced state or inspired by Sufi religious art and music. Physical viewer proximity to the paper is essential for grasping the properties of the intricate, densely positioned lines of dots and dashes that make up these transcendent, celestial waves or webs.

Read More

Early Years

Khan's meditative drawings are inspired by the ethos of Mughal miniature painting, Sufi religious music and scripture, and the cumulative technical processes of printmaking, the discipline he specialised in for his BFA (2008) at National College of Arts, Lahore.

Despite the works' pristine nature and geometric mandala-like forms, their printmaking sensibility introduces an organic feel—a distant hint of Petri dishes in a laboratory or the cross-sectioned cellular structures of plants.

Waqas Khan Artworks

Waqas Khan's obsessively detailed drawings are made on thick wasli paper, repeating cellular patterns and motifs that lock together to form a shimmering geometric whole, such as an incomplete circle or strata-like rippling waves.

Khan's minute dots and dashes are rendered with a Rotring rapidograph, a drafting pen with an ink cartridge and fine tubular nib that enables greater density and complexity when used by artists, architects, and engineers. He has also constructed a special table for making these religious works that are motivated by love. The inks tend to be pink, black, white, or turquoise, and sometimes magnifying glasses are supplied in exhibitions so viewers can closely examine the marks.

Waqas Khan's artworks include The breath of the compassionate (2012), Around the edges, as i see it (2015), The text in continuum (2015), My Small Dancing Particles (2017), Name Me White (2017), In the Name of God II (2017), You, Me, Everyone (2019), The Gibbous Moon (2019), Memory (2019), and Transpired (2021).

Occasionally Khan works on canvas and combines his use of ink with acrylic paint.

Exhibitions

Waqas Khan has been the subject of both solo and group exhibitions. His work has also featured in numerous art fairs, including Art Basel, Art Dubai, Artissima, Frieze London, India Art Summit, and Art Stage Singapore.

Solo exhibitions include (D)escribir el mundo, MUSAC, Leon, Spain (2019); History, Memory or Geometry, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna (2018); Waqas Khan, Manchester Art Gallery (2017); Acoustics of Life, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna (2015); The Untitled Show, Sabrina Amrani Gallery, Madrid (2014).

Group exhibitions include Toronto Biennial of Art, Canada (2022); Long Story Short, Sabrina Amrani Gallery, Madrid (2021); Ver Versus Ver I—II, Sabrina Amrani Gallery, Madrid (2020); Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (2020); The 4th Today's Documents: A Stitch in Time, Beijing Today Art Museum, Beijing (2019); The World On Paper, Deutsche Bank Collection, Berlin (2018); Asia Pacific Triennale 9, Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane (2018); Lahore Biennale, Pakistan (2018).

Collections

Khan's work is held in several institutional collections around the world, including the British Museum, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Deutsche Bank Collection, Frankfurt; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; and Devi Foundation, New Delhi.

Instagram

Waqas Khan's Instagram can be found here.

John Hurrell | Ocula | 2022

Waqas Khan
featured artworks

View 59 More
Whispers in the void by Waqas Khan contemporary artwork works on paper, drawing
Waqas Khan Whispers in the void, 2024 Ink on paper
60 x 40 cm
Sabrina Amrani Request Price & Availability
Trace of time by Waqas Khan contemporary artwork works on paper, drawing
Waqas Khan Trace of time, 2024 Ink on paper
60 x 40 cm
Sabrina Amrani Request Price & Availability
Traces of time by Waqas Khan contemporary artwork works on paper, drawing
Waqas Khan Traces of time, 2024 Ink on paper
55 x 43 cm
Sabrina Amrani Request Price & Availability
Whispers in the Void by Waqas Khan contemporary artwork works on paper, drawing
Waqas Khan Whispers in the Void, 2024 Ink on paper
60 x 40 cm
Sabrina Amrani Request Price & Availability
Till we meet again by Waqas Khan contemporary artwork painting
Waqas Khan Till we meet again, 2024 Ink on canvas
187 x 126 x 3 cm
Sabrina Amrani Request Price & Availability
Untitled by Waqas Khan contemporary artwork painting
Waqas Khan Untitled, 2024 Ink on canvas
45 x 60 cm
Galerie Krinzinger Request Price & Availability
Effusive Eruption I by Waqas Khan contemporary artwork works on paper, drawing
Waqas Khan Effusive Eruption I, 2022 Ink on paper
53 x 68 cm
Galerie Krinzinger Request Price & Availability
Untitled by Waqas Khan contemporary artwork painting
Waqas Khan Untitled, 2024 Ink on canvas
45 x 60 cm
Galerie Krinzinger Request Price & Availability
View 59 More

Waqas Khan
recent exhibitions

View 6 More
View 6 More

Represented by these
Ocula Member Galleries

View 6 More
Learn more about the market for works
by Waqas Khan.
Enquire for a confidential discussion. Enquire Now
Simon Fisher, Ocula CEO
Ocula Advisor
Simon Fisher
Christoper Taylor, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Christopher Taylor
Eva Fuchs, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Eva Fuchs
Rory Mitchell, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Rory Mitchell
Ocula discover the best in contemporary art icon.
Follow Waqas Khan
Stay ahead.
4 new artworks have recently been added.
Receive updates on new artworks,
exhibitions and articles.
Your personal data is held in accordance with our privacy policy.
Follow
Do you have an Ocula account?
Ocula discover the best in contemporary art icon.
Get Access
Join Ocula to request price and availability of artworks, exhibition price lists and build a collection of favourite artists, galleries and artworks.
Do you have an Ocula account? Login
What best describes your interest in art?

Subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming exhibitions, available works, events and more.
By clicking Sign Up or Continue with Facebook or Google, you agree to Ocula's Terms & Conditions. Your personal data is held in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Thank you for joining us. Just one more thing...
Soon you will receive an email asking you to complete registration. If you do not receive it then you can check and edit the email address you entered.
Close
Thank you for joining us.
You can now request price and availability of artworks, exhibition price lists and build a collection of favourite artists, galleries and artworks.
Close
Welcome back to Ocula
Enter your email address and password below to login.
Reset Password
Enter your email address to receive a password reset link.
Reset Link Sent
We have sent you an email containing a link to reset your password. Simply click the link and enter your new password to complete this process.
Login