At Art Dubai 2024 we plan to exhibit the work of three artists from Pakistan: Rasheed Araeen (b.1935), Zarah Hussain (b. 1980) and Mohammad Ali Talpur (b. 1976)
Araeen's political work is well documented and his importance to the development of art in the 20th century cannot be overstated. We intend to exhibit work from the 1970s onwards, including recent paintings influenced by the artist's preoccupation with Islamic history. Araeen's monumental iteration of 'Zero to Infinity' was held in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern in Summer 2023, and his work continues to feature in museum exhibitions around the world.
Zarah Hussain trained at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts for an MA in Islamic art in 2004. Her practice has since evolved into a visual study of how spirituality, technology and art intersect. Working across many mediums, including animation, sculpture and painting, she combines the pattern making skills of traditional geometry with contemporary art.
Hussain’s painting and sculptural works have been exhibited extensively in the UK and abroad and she was awarded the Lumen prize for digital arts in 2017. In 2021 the renowned Essex Peabody Museum in Salem Massachusetts staged an exhibition of Hussain’s ‘Breath’ paintings. In 2021/2022 a major touring solo-exhibition toured museums in the UK. ‘Light upon Light’ visited Rugby Art Galleryand Museum; Gallery Oldham and The Atkinson, Southport. Also in 2022 her work was selected by Grason Perry for inclusion in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.
Mohammad Ali Talpur (b.1976) was born in the Sindh region of Pakistan before moving to Lahore where he studied at the prestigious National College of Arts (NCA). Throughout his career his focus has been calligraphy, language, abstraction and minimalism. Taken at face value the lines in Talpur's work possess an optical quality, restricted to a palette of black and white, a reference to the printed page of a book. The combination of line and colour discombobulates the eye, causing the viewer to see flashes of colour and movement within the monochrome canvases.
Talpur's 'Optical Calligraphies' have their roots firmly in calligraphic heritage, whilst simultaneously presenting a starkly contemporary aesthetic. He has exhibited extensively in Pakistan and overseas. In 2020 his work was displayed at the Lahore Museum as part of the Lahore Biennale (LB02), curated by Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi.
