Idris Khan

Idris Khan
Born 1978
United Kingdom
Nationality British
Education University of Derby; Royal College of Art
Known for Artist

Idris Khan (born 1978, Birmingham, England) is an artist based in London.[1]

Khan's work draws from a diverse range of cultural sources including literature, history, art, music and religion to create densely layered imagery that is both abstract and figurative and addresses narratives of history, cumulative experience and the metaphysical collapse of time into single moments.

Life and career

Khan graduated from the University of Derby in 2001, he studied for an MA at the Royal College of Art in 2004.[2]

Khan photographs or scans originate from secondary source material – for instance, every page of the Qur'an, every Beethoven sonata, every William Turner postcard from Tate Britain, or every Bernd and Hilla Becher spherical gasholder.[1][3] Khan's interest in Islam and layered imagery can be traced back to his upbringing. Khan is a Muslim by origin. His father is from Pakistan.[4] His mother converted to Islam after meeting his father. It was his father's idea that Khan – himself a non-practicing Muslim – photograph every page of the Qur'an.[5][6] His work and process have been described as "experiments in compressed memories"[7] and "all-encompassing composites."[8] As Khan describes: " It is a challenge to not define my work as a photograph but using the medium of photography to create something that exists on the surface of the paper and not to be transported back to an isolated moment in time."[8]

Khan's visual layering also occurs in his videos, such as Last Three Piano Sonatas…after Franz Schubert, a three-channel video installation wherein he uses multiple camera angles to capture numerous performances of Schubert's last sonatas, composed on his deathbed.[9]

Commissions

In 2012, Khan was commissioned by the British Museum in London to create a new wall drawing for the exhibition, Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam. In addition to the wall drawing, a sculpture was installed in the museum’s Great Court.[10]

In March 2012, The New York Times Magazine commissioned Khan to create a new body of work that was published in their London issue,[11] focusing on iconic sites.[12]

Selected exhibitions

Khan has shown work internationally in many exhibitions including those at:

Collections

Khan's work is in the permanent collections of many institutions worldwide[15][16] such as:

Art world

Idris Khan is represented by Victoria Miro in London and Sean Kelly Gallery in New York.[14]

Reviews

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Biography, Victoria Miro Gallery
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 www.iniva.org Idris Khan
  3. ↑ Dan Hicks and Mary C. Beaudry 2006. Introduction: the place of historical archaeology. In Dan Hicks and Mary C. Beaudry (eds) The Cambridge Companion to Historical Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 8–9
  4. ↑ "Idris Khan: GOD IS GREAT". artnet. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "The Guardian, Between the lines, Geoff Dyer".
  6. ↑ "Aesthetica, A Pilgrimage of Self-Discovery, Idris Khan: The Devil’s Wall, Whitworth Art Gallery,Manchester, Carol Huston".
  7. ↑ "Artist of the week 80: Idris Khan, Skye Sherwin, theguardian.com".
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "AIdris Khan's multi-layered photos, Photo Slaves, Sep 28, 2009".
  9. ↑ "Idris Khan: Last 3 Piano Sonatas . . . after Franz Schubert".
  10. ↑ "Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam at The British Museum".
  11. ↑ "This Sunday: London in Pictures, The 6th Floor Blog, Kathy Ryan, March 3, 2012]". The New York Times. 3 March 2012.
  12. ↑ "Pretty as a Thousand Postcards, The New York Times Magazine online, March 1, 2012]". 1 March 2012.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Saatchi Gallery Biography: Idris Khan
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Sean Kelly, New York".
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco".
  16. ↑ "Victoria Miro, London".

External links