Imran Qureshi

Donated by the artist

Celebrated contemporary artist, Imran Qureshi studied miniature painting at the National College of Arts (NCA) in Lahore. As part of the curriculum designed jointly by Zahoor ul Akhlaq and Ustad Bashir Ahmed, students at the school learn the art of traditional miniature painting, whilst making contemporary alterations. Following this education, Qureshi's ensuing career has included socially and politically-engaged works that explore themes of violence and the effect on life in Pakistan. 

The current works, executed in 2022, combine sumptuous gold leaf with his signature blood red pigment, splattered across and dripping down the compositions. In its very medium, Strings Attached explores an amalgam of miniature elements through the gold leaf, and contemporary influences, with expressions of violent blood and deep cerulean blue.

Qureshi has produced major installations around the world, including a site-specific work for the The Roof Garden Commission of the Metropolitan Museum in New York in 2013, where he created a blood-spattered floor on the iconic museum's roof terrace. In 2017, Qureshi was commissioned by the US Department of State to produce works for the US Embassy in Islamabad. These canvases incorporated the same gold leaf and vibrant blue seen in the current work.

*The net sale proceeds for this lot will be donated to the Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation. The ACF is the first and largest animal rescue organisation in Pakistan, founded by Ayesha Chundrigar. Based in Karachi, their mission is to rescue and rehabilitate stray and injured animals, as well as facilitate educational visits to the shelter.