Pakistani American artist Shahzia Sikander impresses judges of SCMP|ART FUTURES at ART HK 10

PAKISTANI AMERICAN ARTISTS ART PRIZES AND AWARDS ART HK 10

Pakistani American artist Shahzia Sikander, represented by London gallery Pilar Corrias, has been brought into spotlight on the stage of contemporary art after impressing the judges of SCMP|ART FUTURES at ART HK 10 and becoming the winner of the year.

Shahzia Sikander working on a mural in the USA.

Standing out among artists from sixteen galleries that have been set up for less than five years, Sikander won a cash prize and an opportunity to design the front cover of Post Magazine, published by the South China Morning Post (SCMP). According to SCMP, she has been praised by one of the judges, Serpentine Gallery co-director Hans Ulrich Obrist, for being a “very special artist” and a worthy winner.

Sikander’s I am also not my own enemy (2009) was exhibited at ART HK 10. It is a decorative work on paper made with gouache, hand painting, gold leaf and silkscreen pigment on paper.

Shahzia Sikander's 'I am also not my own enemy'.

Since graduating from the National College of Arts in Lahore for undergraduate study and the Rhode Island School of Design for master study, Shahzia Sikander has been “instrumental in [the] rediscovery, re-infusion, and re-contextualization of Indo-Persian miniature painting.” She has worked within a wide range of art genres including painting, drawing, animation, installation, video and film. She was named as an honorary artist by Pakistan’s Ministry of Culture and the Pakistan National Council of the Arts.

CBKM/KN

Related Topics: events – fairs, artist nationality – Pakistani, prizes

Related Posts:

• World’s top collectors and art professionals attend ART HK: a testament to fair’s growing importance – June 2010
• What did the galleries say about ART HK 10? Art Radar Asia speaks to 19 dealers – June 2010
• 15 artists in Hanging Fire, first show of contemporary art from Pakistan in US – video – January 2010
• Shahzia Sikander questions authority with new video art medium at Para/Site in Hong Kong – September 2009
• Asia Society brings historic show of Pakistani art to US Sep 2009 – August 2009

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Shahzia Sikander questions authority with new video art medium at Para/Site in Hong Kong

PAKISTANI CONTEMPORARY VIDEO ART

SpiNN (2003) by Shahzia Sikander, still image of video

Art Radar talks to Pakistani miniaturist and video-maker Shahzia Sikander on the occasion of her debut show in China.

The internationally acclaimed Shahzia Sikander spent 2003-2008 performing an in-depth study of the moving image and the fruits of her analysis are on display at “Authority as Approximation,” her first solo exhibition in China at the Para/Site Art Space in Hong Kong.

Curated by Alvaro Rodriguez Fominaya, the 5 works on display are video art pieces that challenge authority and question existing stereotypes of Pakistani culture.

The exhibition is unique as it stands as her first show comprising only moving images, and continues her practice of critically deconstructing traditional imagery of India and Pakistan.

For this event the venue is transformed into a black-box screening gallery, allowing viewers to appreciate Shahzia Sikander’s treatment of the video medium, which represents a departure from her seminal miniature drawings, and highlights her approach to new media.

The show displays her past video work ‘SpiNN’ (2003), which was shown in the Venice Biennial Arsenale exhibition, and emphasizes her latest film, the video-essay ‘Bending the Barrels’ (2008), which debuted in New York early in 2009. The subject of Sikander’s ‘Bending the Barrels’ is a Pakistani Army military brass band performing in formation, which is examined as a politcal device. On the meaning of this film, cultural critic Aditya Dev Sood explains:

“In her choice of Pakistani Army Bands as a subject for visual capture and representation, Sikander triggers deep resonances from within the tradition of Indo-Islamic miniature painting. The corporeal language, rhythm, space-making and compositional effects that she discovers and creates in film appear rooted in courtly spectacles as well as in their painterly representation, in various Mughal and later Company and British Imperial styles.”

Bending the Barrels (2008), by Shahzia Sikander, still image of video.

It’s all about the drawings

Sikander specializes in drawing, and all of her art is conceived in this way and then evolves into various mediums.

As an artist she wears many hats: she also programs animation and operates the camera when shooting film. She creates animations from scanned drawings using the applications Photoshop and Fireworks.

For her film work, she was permitted to operate the camera at the Pakistani military facility herself. However, regarding what medium she chooses, she remarks “the idea dictates the medium.” Unconcerned with medium, she has no preference whether an image is moving or not, and instead chooses what best facilitates communication. However, despite the medium of a work, it will eventually be reflected in Shahzia’s 2D drawings. She comments “Even during filming, it was all research or fodder for drawing.”

Unprecedented Access

Perhaps most surprising about this exhibit is that Sikander, who lives in New York City and is married to an American, was able to gain access into a Pakistani military facility to film original footage of the army’s brass band. Sikander explains that she was allowed inside and permitted to film because she won a military medal in 2003 as an honored Pakistani artist, and was thus granted entry. However, she added that “I find when a project is approached with intent and clarity, I have always been granted access and goodwill has been reciprocated.” Her American husband was also allowed inside the facility to film with her.

Video art: “It’s always been there”

Sikander’s exploration into the moving image reinforces the rising trend of video art. However, Shahzia sees video art as far more than a trend, saying “It’s always been there at the forefront of contemporary expression.” She suggests video art will only become more pervasive, commenting “It’s easier to send a disc, and its immediacy allows for a larger audience… [With Youtube] Everyone now has the freedom to become a videographer.”

The exhibition runs from Sept 2-Sept 30, 2009, at the Para/Site Art Space in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.

-contributed by Erin Wooters

Related Posts

• Bani Abidi on Indian video art, a medium on the rise- interview– Aug 09
• Three Pakistani Female Artists in New York-review– Jan 09
• Pakistani Artist Shahzia Sikander at Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum New York to August-Dec 08
• Internationally known Asian artist’s collaborative art project in Laos ends after 4 years – July 08

Related Links

• Artist Fact Sheet- Shahzia Sikander

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Asia Society brings historic show of Pakistani art to US Sep 2009

Faiza Butt. Get out of my dreams II, 2008. Ink on polyester film. H. 22 x W. 28 1/2 in. (55.9 x 72.4 cm). Private collection, London.

PAKISTANI ART SHOW

Along with the Japan Society and the ICP, the Asia Society based in New York is developing a reputation for curating the most influential books and shows to document emerging art coming out of Asia today.

Its upcoming show Hanging Fire promises to be no exception. Introducing Pakistani contemporary art to a wider Western audience, this taste-making show highlights the major artists to watch and trends to follow.

Find below more information from the press release:

Despite Pakistan’s reputation in the West as a politically and socially volatile nation, it has been fostering a vibrant yet low-profile contemporary art scene for the past two decades.

The Asia Society Museum in New York City is proud to present this work in the first major exhibition of contemporary Pakistani art in the United States.

Hanging Fire: Contemporary Art From Pakistan will explore the seeming contradiction of Pakistan’s flourishing art scene within the struggling nation.

Hanging Fire is curated for the Asia Society by the distinguished Salima Hashmi, one of Pakistan’s most important writers and curators, and the daughter of Pakistan’s most renowned poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

The exhibition will showcase 55 works by 15 artists, comprising installation art, video, photography, painting and sculpture. A number of the works have never been exhibited, including a large-scale site-specific painting by Imran Qureshi.

On the inspiration for the show, Asia Society Museum Director,  Dr. Melissa Chiu, comments:

“The idea for Hanging Fire came from a recognition that over the past decade, a new generation of artists in Pakistan have created compelling works that have largely gone unnoticed outside their country. The exhibition includes artists for whom the highly charged socio-political context in which they live and work is critical to understanding their art.”

The exhibition’s title, Hanging Fire, refers to an idiom that means “to delay decision.” In the context of the exhibition, the title invites the audience to delay judgment, particularly about contemporary society and artistic expression in Pakistan. It also alludes to the modern economic, social, and political tensions––both local and global––from which the featured artists find their creative inspiration.

A full color, 160-page publication by Yale University Press will accompany the exhibition. On exhibition 10 September through 3 January, 2010.

A list of artists in the exhibition follows:

• Hamra Abbas, b. 1976, Kuwait; lives and works in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and Boston
• Bani Abidi, b. 1971, Karachi; lives and works in Karachi
• Zahoor ul Akhlaq, b. 1941, Delhi; died 1999, Lahore
• Faiza Butt, born 1973, Lahore; lives and works in London
• Ayaz Jokhio , b. 1978, Mehrabpur, Sindh; lives and works in Lahore
• Naiza Khan, b. 1968, Bahawalpur, Punjab; lives and works in Karachi
• Arif Mahmood, b. 1960, Karachi; lives and works in Karachi
• Huma Mulji, b. 1970, Karachi; lives and works in Lahore
• Asma Mundrawala, b. 1965, Karachi; lives and works in Karachi
• Imran Qureshi, b. 1972, Hyderabad, Sindh; lives and works in Lahore
• Rashid Rana, b. 1968, Lahore; lives and works in Lahore
• Ali Raza, b. 1969, Lahore; lives and works in Boone, North Carolina, and Lahore
• Anwar Saeed, b. 1955, Lahore; lives and works in Lahore
• Adeela Suleman, b. 1970, Karachi; lives and works in Karachi
• Mahreen Zuberi, b. 1981, Karachi; lives and works in Karachi

Related Links:

Imran Qureshi (born 1972). Moderate Enlightenment, 2007. Gouache on wasli. H. 9 x W. 7 in. (22.9 x 17.8 cm). Aicon Gallery, New York.

• Asia Society
• Time Out New York– more images
• Artfully Provocative: Gulf News reports on this this exhibition
• Hanging Fire by Yale University Press
• Art Asia Pacific reports on contemporary Pakistani art

Related Posts:

The posts below provide more introductory material to Pakistani contemporary art useful for comparison with the Asia Society’s take on the art scene in Pakistan.

• Pakistani Contemporary Miniature Art- Video– June 09
• Rarely Exhibited Art and More Firsts at Asian Contemporary Art Week 2009– April 09
• Three Pakistani Female Artists in New York, review–  Jan 09
• Emerging Pakistani Artists Getting Noticed in India and Abroad– July 2008
• Best of Pakistani Art in show Bradford, UK– July 2008

Contributed by Erin Wooters

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Pakistani contemporary miniature art – overview on video

PAKISTANI CONTEMPORARY MINIATURE ART

Aisha Khalid

Keep hearing about contemporary Pakistani art and want to know a bit more? Here is a great little introductory video.

RTHK, a Hong Kong media organisation, has produced a brief but powerful  video which, in just 6 minutes, manages to  include:

• a look at the historical development of the genre which has roots in the Mughal empire;

• the tools – shell mixing pallettes and squirrel hair brushes so fine that only 2-3 hairs are used;

Imran Qureshi

• demonstration of artists at work;

• interviews with 2 renowned artists, Imran Qureshi and Aisha Khalid, who talk about the sources of their inspiration: nuclear warheads and curtains in the Red Light District of Amsterdam;

• a contextual interview with Professor Salimi Hashmi, a respected expert who explains that the development of this hallowed aesthetic into a contemporary form has spurred vigorous debate.

Watch the Pakistani contemporary art video here

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Two emerging Pakistani miniature artists on show in US for first time

PAKISTANI MINIATURE PAINTING

Mudassar Manzoor and Attiya Shaukat: Contemporary Miniature Paintings to March 29 2009

Frey Norris Gallery, San Francisco with Gandhara Gallery, Pakistan

In the 1980s the National College of the Arts in Lahore, Pakistan revived the ancient traditional styles of painting from the Mughal, Deccani, Pahari, Rajput and Persian schools. In keeping with these traditions, artists are trained in a precise, exquisitely detailed style of painting that begins with the meticulous crushing and preparing of pigments and other materials, such as hand made paper and hand threaded brushes.

Madassar Manzoor and Attiya Shaukat are two up and coming artists from this school, both working with contemporary and often deeply conflicted themes. Together, the artists will contribute a total of fifteen new miniature paintings.

This exhibition marks their first showing in the United States.

 

Attiya Shaukat, Red Bull

Attiya Shaukat

 

Shaukat’s work often features a single image placed carefully on patterned or gridded paper. The imagery tends towards hard angled geometries while conjuring associations such as a twisted spine, wheelchair or some other imagery that relates to a crippling accident she suffered while an art student. This accident and its subsequent influence on her art have garnered comparisons to the life and career of Frida Kahlo.

 

Mudassar Manzoor

Mudassar Manzoor

 

Manzoor’s themes are often more subtle, revealing themselves once time and place add context. For example, his most recent body of work presents deep hues of rich, green and yellow organic forms. Upon closer inspection and after viewing an accompanying timeline the viewer discovers that the entire body of work is an outpouring of turbid emotions following the assassination of Pakistan’s slain leader Benazir Bhutto.

Buy catalogue at Frey Norris website

Related categories: Pakistani art

Related posts: 

• Middle Eastern, Indian, Pakistani art in 3 city show: Lines of Control 
• Three Pakistani female artists in New York – reviews – January 2009  – Artists Farida Batool, Adeela Suleman, Tazeen Qayyum
• Emerging Pakistani artists getting noticed in India and abroad July 2008 – Telegraph India gives an overview of the Pakistani art scene, who is collecting, who is being collected, the main dealers and upcoming shows
• Best of Pakistani art July 2008 – the curator of a show in Britain talks about the renaissance of art in Pakistan, calligraphy, miniatures and the buzzing art scene

 

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Azerbaijan builds on its first Venice Biennale appearance with two group shows abroad in 2008

AZERBAIJAN ART

 

Azerbaijan map

 

 

After its first appearance with its own pavilion at Venice Biennale in 2007, Azerbaijan continues its efforts to build its cultural profile abroad says Nafas art magazine. In 2008 two group shows were held in Germany:

• Steps of Time. Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan in Dresden’s Residenzschloss (June 13 – July 20, 2008) and
• Art is not only ugly in the atrium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin (July 14 – Aug. 7, 2008).

Steps in Time, Dresden

Steps of Time presents Azerbaijan’s modern art in three chapters, aiming to show the specific characteristics of three generations of artists.

The two artists Leyla Akhundzade and Sabina Shikhlinskaya, together with Mathias Wagner of the Dresden Art Collections, conceived the exhibition. Leyla Akhundzade, who is also a curator and Professor for Art History at the State Academy of Art, founded the artists association Zamanyn ganadlany (wings of time) at the end of the 1990s, when the social and political situation in Azerbaijan had stabilized again after the war with Armenia and domestic political tensions.

Flashback: Painters born 1920s to 1940s

They worked in a time dominated by the doctrine of Socialist Realism; but they began to modernize it, especially in the 1960s. Taking up national traditions like carpet art, with its rich, colorful ornamentation, and medieval miniature painting, they found their own independent pictorial solutions beyond the ideologically-freighted narrative style.

Interaction with the neo-abstract tendencies of Western art of the 1960s to 1980s also provided  new impulses. This development in painting was most concentrated in the School of Absheron, named for a peninsula in the Caspian Sea where many painters spent time working. But the great painter figure in Azerbaijan is Tahir Salahov, known as a proponent of the Rigorous Style in the 1960s of the Soviet era and famed for his 1959 painting Oil Tanks.

Artists: Kamal Ahmad, Eldar Gurbanov, Farhad Khalilov, Javad Mirjavadov, Ashraf Murad, Altay Sadigzade, Tahir Salahov, Mir Nadir Zeynalov

 

USSR-Remix: Painters born 1950s and 1960s

An interesting intermediate link is the chapter USSR Remix, which includes works by artists who artistically question their own Soviet molding. The representatives of the middle generation reflect their personal fates as well as collective experiences and often use the media, in part new for them, of photography, video, and installation. Here, not only are outlived cultural codes rethought; artistic forms of language are also actively explored. Rena Effendi’s 2006 photograph Robots in Front of a Soviet Machine Factory impressively contrasts the rusted symbol of a once-promised technical and social progress with the mostly deserted post-industrial landscape.

Rena Effendi Robot in front of a Soviet Factory

Primarily works by this generation were to be seen at Azerbaijan’s pavilion at the Venice Biennial 2007; Leyla Akhundzade was its commissioner and curator.

Artists: Yeshim Agaoglu, Leyla Akhundzade, Sanan Aleskerov, Chingiz Babayev, Rena Effendi, Hussein Hagverdiyev, Bahram Khalilov, Aga Ousseinov, Sabina Shikhlinskaya

Sabina Shikhlinkshaya The cargo ship

 

Azerbaijan today:

The third chapter shows works by mostly very young artists who experienced the time before 1991 only as children and who today are concerned with questions of national identity and the consequences of the radical economic and societal transformations in their country.  Rashad Alekberov’s installation Made in China reflects the relationship between the globalized world’s mass culture shaped by cheap Chinese goods and the former Asian high culture, barely visible as a shadow of itself.

 Artists: Faig Ahmed, Rashad Alekberov, Babi Badalov, Teymur Daimi, Elshan Ibrahimov, Rauf Khalilov, Farkhad Farzaliyev, Orkhan Huseynov, Shahin Malikzadeh, Fakhriyya Mammadova, Jeyhun Ojadov, Farid Rasulov

 

Art is not only ugly, Berlin

Leyla Akhundzade also curated the exhibition Art is not only ugly in the atrium of the Foreign Office in Berlin. The title refers to a challenge that Azeri artists feel confronted with by the international art discourse: they want to preserve traditional artistic values like aesthetic beauty, while simultaneously reflecting current societal and artistic developments. Leyla Akhundzade writes that for Azeri art the fascination and diction of Realism is always countered by the dream of a different and wonderful world.

Elchin Musaoglu Glass Toy

Artists: Sanan Aleskerov, Rashad Alekberov, Orkhan Aslanov, Rena Effendi, Rauf Khalilov, Vugar Muradov, Elchin Musaoglu, Niyaz Najafov, Farid Rasulov, Teymur Rustamov, Makhmud Rustamov  

For more images and original article NAFAS art magazine

For more on emerging artists, Azeri art, overviews,

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