PRESS RELEASE – ART DUBAI
At the 2019 edition of Art Dubai Grosvenor Gallery (London) will be displaying in both the Modern and Contemporary halls. Art Dubai runs from the 20th – 23rd March at the Madinat Jumeirah. This will be the Gallery’s 13th appearance at the fair, having taken part in every edition since its inception.
Art Dubai CONTEMPORARY – Booth F5
In the contemporary halls Grosvenor Gallery (London) will be exhibiting the work of two artists from Pakistan:
Rasheed Araeen (b.1935) and Mohammad Ali Talpur (b.1976).
Rasheed Araeen is a pioneer of minimalism and a colossal figure in South Asian and Western art. A champion of black artists in Britain from the 1960s onwards, his influence and importance within the landscape of 20th century art cannot be overstated. Inspired by his background as an engineer, calligraphic forms, geometry and Islamic history. “Geometry was already profoundly expressed by Arab/Muslim artists more than a thousand years ago. This fact must now be recognised within the narratives of modern art history by making a connection between twentieth century geometric abstraction and the achievements of the Islamic civilisation.” Araeen, 2018
Araeen’s work is currently part of a major touring retrospective. The final leg has just opened at GARAGE Centre for Contemporary Art, Moscow, having previously been displayed at The Van Abbe, Eindhoven, MAMCO, Geneva and BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead.
Mohammad Ali Talpur was born in the Sindh region of Pakistan before moving to Lahore where he studied at the prestigious National College of Arts (NCA). Throughout his career his focus has been calligraphy, abstraction and minimalism. Taken at face value the lines in Talpur’s work possess an optical quality, restricted to a palette of black and white, a reference to the printed page of a book. The combination of line and colour discombobulates the eye, causing the viewer to see flashes of colour and movement within the monochrome canvases.
“You could say that I have developed a kind of colour phobia. For example, red has a history and so does green, and putting these colours on a surface would lead to a plethora of meanings. But a plain, black mark on white surface is more essential and closer to the primary idea. There is nothing extraneous about it. It is what remains after the extra concerns have been filtered.” Talpur, 2018
Talpur’s arresting canvases have their roots firmly in calligraphic heritage, whilst simultaneously presenting a starkly contemporary aesthetic. Talpur is an exciting artist, whose preoccupation with calligraphy over many years tells a fascinating story.
