Museum Acquisition: Imran Qureshi

We are delighted to announce that Imran Qureshi's This Leprous Brightness, 2011, (watercolour and gold leaf) and Separated, 2013, (gouache and gold leaf on clayboard) have been acquired by the British Museum, London through The Arts Council England's Cultural Gifts Scheme. Gifted as part of The Hamish Parker collection of drawings and prints by donor Hamish Parker, the works will be permanently housed in the Museum's Prints and Drawings department. 

Born in Hyderabad, Qureshi lives and works in Lahore, Pakistan. He studied miniature painting at the National College of Arts in Lahore, where he now teaches the discipline. Considered one of Pakistan's most important artists, he has developed a contemporary practice rooted in the tradition of 16th-century Mughal miniature art, encompassing figurative and abstract works on paper, monumental paintings and site-specific installations. His work constitutes a unique synthesis of traditional motifs and techniques with current issues and the formal language of contemporary abstract painting. He combines traditional motifs, techniques and symbolism with conceptual ideas, oscillating between an unparalleled attention to detail and a gestural energy reminiscent of Action Painting. The use of gold leaf and red acrylic paint is a distinctive feature of his work. The luminosity of gold-leaf alludes to the celestial plane, in contrast to the vibrant splashes of red and ornate vine motifs that become symbolic of the vulnerability of the human body.