임란 쿠레쉬(Imran Qureshi)는 16세기 무굴 미니어처 미술의 전통에 기반하여 동시대 작업을 발전시켰으며, 종이에 구상과 추상, 기념비적인 회화, 장소 특정적인 설치 작품을 아우른다. 쿠레쉬의 작품은 전통적인 모티브와 기법을 현재 이슈와 동시대 추상화의 형식적 언어와 독특하게 조합한다. 또한 전례 없는 디테일함과 액션 페인팅을 연상시키는 제스처의 에너지 사이를 오가며 전통적인 모티프와 기술, 상징주의를 개념적인 아이디어와 결합한다. 그의 작품은 금박으로 만든 잎과 붉은 아크릴 물감 사용을 특징으로 한다. 금박 잎의 광채는 천체를 암시하고, 이와 대조적으로 강렬한 붉은 빛으로 장식된 덩굴 모티프는 인체의 연약함을 상징적으로 드러낸다.
쿠레쉬의 연약한 아름다움은 현대 삶에 대한 사회적, 정치적인 고찰에 의해 조절된다. 붉은색은 우리의 혈관에 흐르는 생명선을 명백하게 암시하고, 반면 꽃 모티프는 재생과 성장의 가능성을 상기시킨다. 폭력과 아름다움 또는 죽음과 재생처럼 작품에서 탐구하는 이원성 사이에는 균형 감각이 유지되며, 이는 적대적이면서 동시에 서로 얽혀 있는 힘으로 표현된다. 작가에게 ‘물감에서 피어난 꽃은 그동안에 있었던 모든 일에도 불구하고 사람들이 더 나은 미래를 위해 어떻게든 버틸 수 있는 희망을 나타낸다.’ 현재의 현실을 재현하기 위해 미니어처 페인팅의 재현적 기술을 사용한 쿠레쉬의 작업은 새로움과 정통함이 매일같이 충돌하는 세계의 마찰에 대해 부분적으로 언급한다.
인도 하이데라바드 출신 작가인 쿠레쉬는 현재 파키스탄 라호르를 기반으로 활동 중이다. 작가는 라호르의 국립예술대학(National College of Arts in Lahore)에서 미니어처 페인팅을 공부했으며, 현재 그 분야를 가르치고 있다. 파키스탄의 가장 중요한 예술가 중 한 명인 그는 건축 공간을 포함하여 건물의 역사적 또는 정치적 중요성을 언급하는 장소 특정적인 설치 작품으로 국제적인 인정을 받았다. 2011년 샤르자 비엔날레(Sharjah Biennial)를 위해 제작된 <Blessings Upon the Land of My Love>와 2012년 시드니 비엔날레(Biennale of Sydney)를 위해 제작된 <They Shimmer Still>이 그 예이다. 2013년에는 뉴욕 메트로폴리탄 미술관의 옥상 정원(The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Roof Garden Commission, New York)에 설치할 대규모 장소 특정적인 작품을 제작했다. 같은 해 도이체방크(Deutsche Bank)의 올해의 예술가 상을 받았고, 베를린에 위치한 도이체방크 미술관(Deutsche Bank Kunsthalle, Berlin)에서 유럽에서의 첫 개인전을 가졌다. 이 외에도 런던의 바비칸 센터(Barbican Centre, London, 2016)와 올보르 현대미술관(Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, 2016) 등에서 다수의 개인전을 열었으며, 워싱턴 국립 대성당(Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., 2018)과 아부다비의 알 아인 지역(Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, 2018) 등 에서 장소 특정적인 프로젝트를 진행했다.
2024
Scattered yet Together, Pulchri Studio, The Hague, Netherlands
Home, COMO Museum of Art, Lahore, Pakistan
The Garden, Nasir Bagh, Lahore, Pakistan
2023
Homecoming, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris Marais, France
2019
The Seeming Endless Path of Memory, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Pantin, France
2018
By the People, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., USA
2017
And That Is How We Loved This Too – This Land, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
2016
The Seeming Endless Path Of Memory, Museo Civico, San Gimignano, Sienna, Italy
Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn; The Exchange, Penzance and Truro Cathedral, Cornwall, UK
Garden Within a Garden, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, UK
Where the Shadows are So Deep, Barbican Centre, London, UK
Idea of Landscape, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, Denmark
2015
Idea of Landscape, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
2014
Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year 2013: Imran Qureshi, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK
Imran Qureshi: The God of Small Things, MSU Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
Midnight Garden, Gandhara Art, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong
All Time Would be Perpetual Spring, Art on the Underground commission, Transport for London, London, UK
Salsali Private Museum, Dubai
2013
The Roof Garden Commission: Imran Qureshi, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA
Artist of the Year, Deutsche Bank Kunsthalle, Berlin, Germany
MACRO | Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma, Rome, Italy
Salsali Private Museum, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
And They Still Seek The Traces Of Blood..., Zahoor Al Akhlaq Gallery, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan
2010
All Are The Colour of My Heart, Chawkandi Art, Karachi, Pakistan
All Are The Colour of My Heart, Rohtas 2, Lahore, Pakistan
Pao Gallery, Hong Kong Art Center, Hong Kong
2007
Encounters: Imran Qureshi, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, UK
Canvas Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan
2006
Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi, India
2004
Corvi-Mora, London, UK
2002
Chawkandi Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan
1996
Rohtas Gallery, Islamabad, Pakistan
1995
Alliance Française Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan
2025
Between Sacred Cities, Islamic Arts Biennale, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2023
Beyond the Page: South Asian Miniature Painting and Britain, 1600 to Now, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, UK
2022
Amakin, King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, Ithra, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Christian Louboutin : l'exhibition(niste), Grimaldi Forum, Monaco
Amakin, Jeddah Saudi Art Council, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Deen o Dunya (The Sacred and the Earthly), Karachi Biennale, Karachi, Pakistan
2020
Miniature 2.0, Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey
Christian Louboutin: l'Exhibition(niste), Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris, France
Brent Bienniale, Ealing Road Library, London, UK
2019
Imran Qureshi and Tomoaki Suzuki, Corvi-Mora, London, UK
Vergessene Aufklärungen, HALLE 14, Leipzig, Germany
2018
Lahore Biennale 01, Lahore, Pakistan
International Exhibition of Contempary Art, Yerevan, Armenia
Imran Qureshi, Al Jahili Fort, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi Art 2018 Beyond, Al Jahili Fort, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Lahore Biennale 01, Lahore, Pakistan
2017
Two Wings To Fly. Not One, Pakistan National Council of the Arts, National Art Gallery, Islamabad, Pakistan
2016
Other States, Other Lives, Other Souls, Corvi-Mora, London, UK
This Night-Bitten-Dawn, Devi Art Foundation in collaboration with the Gurjal Foundation, New Dehli, India
2015
The Great Game, Iranian Pavilion, 56th Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy
Imran Qureshi & Aisha Khalid, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
Minor Heroism, Galeri Zilberman, Istanbul , Turkey
Framing Fraktur Word & Image: Contemporary Artists Connect to Fraktur, The Free Library of Philadelphia, PA, USA
2014
Eurasia. A view on painting, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Pantin, France
Garden of Ideas: Contemporary Art from Pakistan, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada
Fields of Vision, Yorkshire Festival 2014, Yorkshire, UK
Don’t you know who I am?, M HKA, The Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
Asia Triennial Manchester 2014, Imperial War Museum North, Manchester, UK
Nuit Blanche, 10 Place du Panthéon, Paris, France
2013
Extra | ordinary: 37 do-it-yourself art ideas for free, Canvas Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan
The Encyclopedic Palace, 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
In Cloud Country: Abstracting From Nature – From John Constable to Rachel Whiteread, Harewood House, Yorkshire, UK
2012
Expanded Drawing, Casal Solleric, Palma, Spain
No Borders, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery (in paternership with Arnolfini), Bristol, UK
Sub-Topical Heat: New Art From South Asia, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
18th Biennale of Sydney: All our relations, Cockatoo Island, Sydney, Australia
2011
Painting Show, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK
Realms of Intimacy: Miniaturist Practice from Pakistan, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Signature Art Prize Finalist Exhibition, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, Singapore
Sharjah Biennial 10: Plot For A Biennial, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Old Intersections – Make It New, 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece
Political Patterns – Ornament im Wandel, ifa-Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Intimate Pictures, Pakistani Contemporary Miniatures, Tokyo Gallery + BTAP, Tokyo, Japan
And Nothing But the Truth: The Problem of Parrhesia, IVS Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan
They Said it Was Love...., Lakeeren Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
2010
Mazaar Bazaar, Zahoor ul Akhlaq Gallery, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan
Beyond the Page: Contemporary Art from Pakistan, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA, USA
Corvi-Mora, London, UK
2009
Mashq – Repetition Meditation Mediation, Green Cardamom, London, UK
East–West Divan: Contemporary Art from Afghanistan, Iran & Pakistan, La Scuola Grande della Misericordia, Venice, Italy
Hanging Fire, Asia Society, New York, NY, USA
Outside In: Alternative Narratives In Contemporary Art, University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Die Macht Des Ornaments, Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
2008
Living Traditions, Queen’s Palace, Bagh-e-babur, Kabul, Afghanistan
100 Years, 100 Artists, 100 Works of Art, London Underground, UK
2007
Friends of Rohtas, Rohtas 2, Lahore, Pakistan
Beyond the Page: Contemporary Art from Pakistan, Foyle Gallery, MAC Arts, Birmingham, UK
Portraits and Vortexes, The Experimental Gallery, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong, China
Corvi-Mora, London, UK
2006
Beyond the Page: Contemporary Art from Pakistan, Asia House, London, UK
I love my country but I think we should start seeing other people, Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Belief, Singapore Biennale, Singapore
2005
Karkhana-A contemporary Collaboration, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, USA
Miniatures Contemporaines Du Pakistan, La Halle Villefranche De Rouergue, France
One to One, Alhamra Art Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan
Re-inventing Narratives, La Galerie Mohamed el Fassi, Morocco
Beyond Borders - Art from Pakistan, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India
A Gathering of Seasons, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi, India
Chawkandi Art Gallery, Karachi
2004
Contemporary Miniature Paintings from Pakistan, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Expander, Royal Academy of Arts, 6 Burlington Gardens, London, UK
Playing with a Loaded Gun, Museum Fridericianum Kassel, Kassel, Germany
The Drawn Page, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, USA
Chawkandi Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan
2003
Karkhana, Touchstones Art Gallery, Rochdale, UK
Contemporary Miniatures from Pakistan, K3 - Project Space, Zürich, Switzerland
Playing with a Loaded Gun : Contemporary Art in Pakistan, apexart, New York, NY, USA
The American Effect, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA
Miniatures Pakistanaises, Maison d''Art Contemporain Chaillioux, Fresnes, France
New Work, Corvi-Mora, London, UK
Negotiating Borders, Siddhartha Art Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
Contemporary Miniatures from Pakistan, K3 - Project Space, Zürich
2002
The Galleries Show: Contemporary Art in London, The Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
Threads, Dreams, Desires, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, UK
Around the Miniature, Canvas Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan
2001
Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, UK
Manoeuvering Miniatures, IIC Gallery, New Delhi, India
Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India
Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney, Australia
In Conversation, Gallery Espace, New Delhi, India
Corvi-Mora, London, UK
Admit One Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2000
Alliance Française, Singapore
Pakistan Another Vision, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, UK; Center of Contemporary Art, Glasgow, UK; Huddersfield Art Gallery, Huddersfield, UK; Brunei Gallery, London, UK
Canvas Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan
Didrichsen Art Museum, Kuusisaari, Finland
Sim Sim Art Gallery, Lahore (with Farida Batool)
1999
Notices Gallery, Singapore, Singapore
Third Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia
Chawkandi Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan
1998
National Art Gallery, Malaysia, Malaysia
1997
Lionel Wiendt Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka
8th Asian Art Biennale, Shilpkala Academy, Bangladesh
Draped & Shaped, Cartwright Hall, Bradford, UK
Off-Set Portfolio Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan
Gallery NCA, Lahore, Pakistan
Australia
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
France
Kadist Art Foundation, Paris
Germany
Deutsche Bank Collection
Japan
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
Pakistan
Embassy of the United States of America, Islamabad
National Art Gallery, Islamabad
The Presidency, Islamabad
UK
Bradford Art Galleries and Museums, Bradford
Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol
Harris Museum, Preston
Monsoon Art Collection, London
The British Museum, London
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
USA
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum
Embassy of the United States
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The RISD Museum, Rhode Island
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
U.S Department of State
World Bank, Washington, D.C.