encounters: IMRAN QURESHI AFTERMATH

6 October to 16 December 2007

Lower Gallery, Modern Art Oxford

Press View: Friday 5 October, 1pm to 3pm

Modern Art Oxford presents the first solo exhibition in the UK of work by Imran Qureshi. Qureshi works from the Mughal heritage of Miniature painting, with its emphasis on draughtsmanship and the delicate repetition of decorative motifs and layers of colour, redefining this tradition in contemporary terms. For his exhibition at Modern Art Oxford, Qureshi presents a selection of recent paintings from his ongoing series Moderate Enlightenment together with a new wall painting, which he will create especially for the Lower Gallery.

Suzanne Cotter, the exhibition’s curator, comments:
'Qureshi takes the language of the Miniature beyond the page to the walls of the gallery itself to create a dazzling decorative cycle of illusion and shadow.'

Born in 1972 in Hyderabad, Pakistan, Qureshi is Professor at the Department of Fine Arts, National College of Arts Lahore where he has been teaching Miniature painting and drawing since 1994. He is also a member of the collective workshop Darmiyaan, set up by his wife and fellow artist Aisha Khalid to reflect on their position as artists in the wake of September 11. Qureshi lives and works in Lahore, Pakistan.

Imran Qureshi is the second artist to participate in Modern Art Oxford’s new encounters programme, which includes exhibitions, displays, talks, activities and special events with the aim of inspiring more people to enjoy and engage with contemporary art. The artist will be working with students at Oxford Community School in the weeks leading up to the exhibition.

Imran Qureshi will be in conversation with Dr. Virginia Whiles, independent curator and lecturer on Saturday 6 October, 3pm at Modern Art Oxford. For further details visit www.modernartoxford.org.uk

ENDS

For further information please contact Sara Dewsbery, Press and Marketing Officer on 01865 813813, Email sara.dewsbery@modernartoxford.org.uk

Imran Qureshi: Previous Exhibitions
Qureshi has exhibited in group exhibitions including: the 2006 Singapore Biennial, curated by Fumio Nanjo; Contemporary Asian Artists III: Contemporary Miniature Paintings from Pakistan at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan (2005); Playing with a loaded gun at the Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany (2003) and the Third Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia (1999).

The artist has presented solo exhibitions at: Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi (2006); Chowkandi Art Gallery, Karachi (2002) and Rohtas Gallery, Islamabad (1996).

In the UK, Qureshi’s work was included in Beyond the Page: Contemporary Art from Pakistan (2006), curated by Hammad Nasar and Expander at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (2004).

For further details visit http://www.corvi-mora.com/imranqureshi.php

Suzanne Cotter is Senior Curator at Modern Art Oxford.

encounters is supported by The David Elliott Fund.

Press contact

For further press information and images please contact Sara Dewsbery on 01865 813813.


RECENT PRESS QUOTES

Gary Hume
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Alastair Sooke, The Daily Telegraph

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Robert Clark, The Guardian

'The Door Paintings aren’t just clever non-paintings, blending the detachment of Pop Art with the rigour of Minimalism…they have powerful presence.'
Tom Lubbock, The Independent

Mircea Cantor/Ansel Adams/Katie Paterson
‘Three fantastic exhibitions.’
Jo Halstead, The Oxford Mail

Mircea Cantor
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Laura Cumming, The Observer

Ansel Adams
‘Widely recognised as the greatest landscape photographer of his century.’
Benjamin Secher, Daily Telegraph

Katie Paterson
‘In an inspired pairing, Paterson shares the exhibition space with the American landscape photographer Ansel Adams…Paterson using modern technology to find the poetry in landscape that Adams captured through his camera lens.’
Tim Cooper, The Sunday Times

Trisha Donnelly
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Jonathan Griffin, Frieze

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Waldemar Januszczak, The Sunday Times

‘Every brushstroke threatens disintegration.’
Extract from the catalogue foreword, Mirror, Mirror by Professor Germaine Greer

‘I can’t wait to see her Oxford show – I think she’s the real deal.’
Lynn Barber, The Observer

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Robert Clark, The Guardian

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Rachel Cooke, The Observer-Review

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Laura Cumming, The Observer: The Year in the Arts 2006

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