Vanishing Points: Imran Qureshi

What does it mean to see the world from multiple perspectives?

This Alserkal Art Week, step into contemporary South Asian cityscapes through the astute gaze of Imran Qureshi in 'Vanishing Points', a major exhibition curated by Nada Raza, presenting new works—including photography, video, painting, and a site-specific installation.

A leading artist from the acclaimed Lahore school of contemporary Indo-Persian miniature painting, Qureshi is known for his innovative reimagining of a classical form. His lens captures the multiple temporalities of a city where Mughal and Sikh architectural backgrounds fold into a boisterous post-industrial present. Here, the surface holds multiple narratives within one frame, defying the single-point perspective of European convention.

Rather than lament the disappearance of craft, Imran works collaboratively with skilled practitioners to create tactile and immersive experiences–reconceiving the world-as-miniature.

Presented by Alserkal Avenue with support from Nature Morte.

About the Artist

Imran Qureshi, recipient of Pakistan’s Presidential Award Sitara-i-Imtiaz and Chevalier de L'ordre des Arts and des lettres, was born in Hyderabad, Pakistan in 1972. He completed his BFA with Distinction in 1993 from the National College of Art (NCA) in Lahore, where he started teaching shortly after.

Qureshi’s work is firmly rooted in the tradition of miniature painting, which he still teaches at the NCA. Having exhibited locally and internationally for the past 25 years, he has greatly expanded the language of miniature painting across traditionally sized crafted work, site-specific installations, videos and paintings on paper and canvas.

His art is exemplary of a practice that combines a local background with a global outlook; artistically, socially and politically. His work has been acquired by notable public collections in major institutions, including the The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, and has been exhibited in major Biennales and more than 130 exhibitions globally.

Qureshi has been was awarded with the Sharjah Biennale 10 Art prize (2011), the Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year Award (2013), the Medal of Arts Award by State Department

Washington (2017), and earlier the Associateship of NCA (2009), as well as the Haji Muhammad Sharif Award for Miniature Painting (1993).

About the Curator

Nada Raza is the Director of Alserkal Arts Foundation. She was founding Artistic Director of the Ishara Art Foundation, having returned to Dubai after several years of curatorial and research experience at Tate, and prior to that at Iniva and Green Cardamom. She has curated exhibitions internationally, with a focus on this region, particularly South and West Asia. She holds an MA from the Chelsea College of Art and Design and is a doctoral candidate at the Courtauld Institute of Art