Imran Qureshi

             Today I want to talk about Pakistani artist Imran Qureshi. There is something in his works that keeps me mesmerised. Connection to Arabic patterns, use of colours, his bold and brave ways to fill the space with images of leaves, just leaves, but in their rich variations and concepts.
His drawing technique inspires me in my architectural drawings. I have always liked this combination of brutality and lightness. Leaves are fragile, light, semi-transparent, backgrounds are fairy-tale like.

           In Qureshi’s work, an investigation into ornamentation is both a reference to tradition and a vehicle for criticism: of constricting role models, violent political and religious systems, stereotypes, and conventions. He also transposes the form of miniature painting into site-specific installations in architectural space, addressing both the building itself and its historical and political connotations. His art delves into the constant alternation between violence and hope, destruction and creation, and calls for peaceful resistance and optimism in difficult times.

His new work called "Roof Gardens" commissioned by Metropolitan Museum.
 http://www.metmuseum.org/en/metmedia/video/collections/modern/imran-qureshi
He uses red acrylic, depicting the brutal bombings in Lahore.

                Imran Qureshi (*1972) is regarded one of the most important representatives of Pakistan’s art scene. Schooled in miniature painting, he employs motifs, symbolism, and ornamentation from the Mogul tradition, which blossomed in the north of the Indian subcontinent during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In his unique way, Qureshi combines traditional motifs and techniques with conceptual ideas and contemporary, abstract painting. Observations of reality in contemporary Pakistan flow into his work: reflections on the relationship between the West and the Muslim world, religion, terrorism, and war policy.

With its annual Artist of the Year award, the Deutsche Bank honors promising international artists who, in individual ways, address social issues and have already created an independent, outstanding oeuvre that also includes works on paper and photography.