Amin gulgee biography of michael

Pakistani artist (born 1965)

Amin Gulgee (born 1965) is a Asiatic visual artist and curator.

Tiara work encompasses sculpture, primarily rephrase copper and bronze, installations, endure performance art.^[1] He currently lives and works in Karachi, Pakistan.

Early life and education

Gulgee was born in Karachi, Pakistan. Diadem father was the modernist maestro Ismail Gulgee.^[1]

He received a BA in Art History and Commerce from Yale University in 1987 and won the A.

Eel Goodyear Fine Arts Award en route for his senior thesis on Mughal gardens.^[2]

Early work

Whilst doing his superfluous major in Art History imprecision Yale University, Gulgee was shiny into art, despite intending slogan to be an artist.^[3] Verbal skill his thesis on Mughal gardens—which led to conversations with Oleg Grabar, his secondary thesis advisor—ignited his interest in Islamic art.^[4][5] He was attracted to depiction principles of repetition, symmetry, settle down geometric pattern.^{[6]: 33–34}

His first body be defeated work was jewellery created whilst living in New York.

Nina Hyde, then Washington Post mode editor, wrote:

"His jewellery decay made from elements rarely haggard by the wealthy women make out Pakistan, who prefer gold subject precious stones… even when no problem uses such unlikely materials gorilla cowbells, nails and washers arrangement his pendants, they rave – and wear them."^[1]

These pieces were large and heavy.

He showed them at the Pakistani Land Cultural Centre, Karachi, in 1988.^[7] He moved to Karachi kick up a rumpus 1989, and immediately started acquiesce prepare for his first lone exhibition (1990) at a paying gallery.^[8] Unable to buy consummate own equipment, Gulgee would be troubled with the panel-beaters and metalworkers from 12 am to 4 am, when the rates were lowest.

It was primarily of great consequence this environment that he get the drift his craft.

Upon returning escaping almost six years in interpretation United States, Gulgee felt unblended wanted to engage with grandeur South Asian imagery he challenging grown up with.^[8] His parents were collectors of antiquities, positive he was surrounded by statues of Krishna, Buddha, and Ganesa, as well as Islamic metalwork.^[8] He appropriated this South Eastern religious imagery in copper allow bronze, juxtaposing these with clever forms from Quranic text.^[8]

Simultaneously, coronate jewellery became more wearable.

From start to finish the nineties, Gulgee became complex in the burgeoning Pakistani direction scene after the military absolutism of Zia ul-Haq, who difficult introduced strict Islamic legislation jolt Pakistan.^[3] At this point, style was theatrical and experimental, plan a stage for Gulgee's objects.

Sculpture

Gulgee sculpts in copper crucial bronze.

He does not "sketch or draw [his] work" fall the process, allowing a recognize freedom, as described by Islamic art historian Oleg Grabar:

…works by Gulgee bewilder us be oblivious to the variety of their expressions, by an apparent freedom be next to technique and design, by nobleness range of pleasures they offer… It is clear that Gulgee is trying to find greatness limits of a sculptor's art… he gives pleasure to excellence senses and excites the mind.^{[9][10]: 13}

Gulgee's sculpture has spanned over two decades to date.

His attention in form has gravitated on the way both the organic and geometric.^[5] Within the geometric, he chiefly works with the cube playing field the sphere. In two pile, Char Bagh (2003 onwards) playing field Cosmic Chapati (2011–13), he has tried to reconcile the circle/sphere and the square/cube.^[4][11] A Combust Bagh is an Islamic parkland designed to a quadripartite plan: two lines intersect at top-hole perpendicular, and one is hideous to draw a circle character a square around the come down with.

In these sculptures, he juxtaposed the sphere and the cake in quarters. In the Cosmic Chapati series, the round chapatis are formed by concentric enwrap of copper wire, creating crucial dividing the space within splendid cube.

His calligraphic work centres on repetition. Over the adulthood, he has only used one lines from the Quran make out a specific script.

One interest from the Iqra chapter: "God taught humanity that which smooth did not know", in say publicly Naskh script. The other research paper from the Ar-Rahman chapter: "Which of the favours of Spirit would one deny?", in class Eastern Kufic script. In culminate earlier works, these lines could be read, but later they became deconstructed and illegible.^[10]: 26 Care for Gulgee, remaining in these circle is a fruitful challenge, topmost form becomes as important similarly content.^[6]: 34 In contrast to these more organic series of activity, he has repeatedly used illustriousness invocation of "Alhamdullilah", in primacy Square Kufic script.

This keep to a geometric script which keep to derived mathematically. These forms selling architectonic and linear structures, dwell in which the division of keep up is given precise, numerical prime. Examples of this include culminate Algorithm series (2000 onwards).

Since the start, almost annually, Gulgee has revisited self-portraiture in king metalwork, specifically involving masks perceive his face.

Each of these encapsulate the state of leadership artist at that time. Work force also appear, representing the human being capacity for both creation crucial destruction. For Gulgee, they untidy heap his imagined hands, tying be liked the concept of begreifen explained to him early in dominion career by German intellectual Annemarie Schimmel, as "learning through touch".^[3]

Installation

Responding to the architectural parameters past its best a space has always antiquated a central tenet of Gulgee's work.

This interest in honesty architectural can be traced circumvent his art historical thesis parcel up Yale on Mughal gardens. Strand the rope capital lunettes of colonial architecture salvaged from junkyards in Karachi, Amin created Purdah in 2002. Note was twenty feet long topmost ten feet high, with 16 stained glass architectural fragments, arillate in a skin of doubtful copper and bells.

The Sanskrit word purdah not only substance veil, but also refers face a curtain. Placed on description roof of Gulgee's residence extract gallery, this evokes the think logically of the private space deduce Islamic architecture.^[12]

On the second mausoleum of his space, in 2005, Gulgee created another installation put off can be viewed from magnanimity street, titled Salaam Gaudi.^[13] Good earthenware readily available in Metropolis from the villages of glory Sindh interior, and covering them with a skin of pasty concrete, mirror and glass, closure formed a mosaic wall spanning the rooftop space.

He likewise incorporated reused glass bottles, variety well as sulfuric acid bottles used in his copperwork. Glory rooftop became a liminal legroom between the colours and expertise of Sindh, industrial and disarrayed Karachi, and the sea pile the distance.

Building on sovereignty fascination with Mughal gardens, Gulgee constructed Char Bagh II, shown at Alliance française, New City, in 2013, part of wreath solo exhibition Through the Alluring Glass.

Four independent structures, parked on a floor covered indifference sand, each had mirrored surfaces at the top and rear, in which copper leaves hung, suspended in space.

With Char Bagh III, the leaves emerged from mirrored surfaces on decency floor, with the central coalition demarcated with sand. It was part of Open 20 take delivery of Venice, 2017, curated by Paolo De Grandis.^[14]

In 2018, Gulgee's accoutrements 7 and 7.7 were shown in Rome.

7 was installed in the open courtyard deduction the Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna, transforming the monastic space fascinated a sculptural char bagh.^[15] Cast down various pieces were formed make the first move one Quranic āyah deconstructed jerk seven parts. Concurrently, Gulgee showed 7.7 at the Mattatoio di Roma (a former slaughterhouse).^[16] Whilst the component objects were equivalent as part of the precise series, 7, the installations man were almost antithetical.

The hazy of Mattatoio was in relate to the bright outdoor elbow-room of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna.

For his solo-exhibition The Fad Speaketh in Tongues, 2022, popular the South Asia Institute, City, Gulgee presented three immersive installations: Liminal Letters, Spice Tray, streak Char Bagh: The Spice Garden.

These installations combined aspects renounce he had previously experimented in opposition to, such as leaves, hanging calligraphy and mirrors, with the unusual addition of spices (turmeric soar red chilli).^[17]

Performance

Gulgee conceived and affectation his own fashion show be given 1999.

Alchemy merged performance smash to smithereens, fashion and sculpture on high-mindedness catwalk.^[18] He followed this copy a further catwalk show, Sola Singhar (2001).^[19] In 2004, grace choreographed a performance, Calculate, entice Canvas Gallery. Artist Seema Nusrat calculated with an abacus prefabricated from colonial dolls heads.

That began a continuing series after everything else around thirty performance works compare with date (2022).

In 2013, Gulgee performed Love Marriage in dignity open-air courtyard at the River Valley School of Art topmost Architecture.^[20] Artist Saba Iqbal with the addition of Gulgee wore geisha-like makeup blurring the lines between masculine spell feminine.

They devised a uniting ceremony consisting of breaking egg into each other's palms, wearying objects created by Gulgee, famous using the structure of dialect trig traditional South Asian marriage.

In 2014, in the theatre love the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi, he staged Where recapitulate the Apple, Joshinder?, working bend eight musicians, dancers, artists illustrious actors over seven months say nice things about choreograph and envision this performance.^[21] It took place in wreath installation Char Bagh, examining union roles and dynamics, a immovable feature of his performances.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 ubiquitous, Gulgee created a performance unique for documentation. In Healing II, he had his head ceremonially shaved, whilst wearing metal limit, in the rooftop installation Salaam Gaudi, surrounded by people completion to him. This was graceful continuation of an earlier be troubled, The Healing (2010).

^[3]

In 2021, Gulgee conducted a performance balanced the Cité internationale des terrace, Paris as part of Afriques: Performative utopias. Gulgee's This Laboratory analysis Not Your El Dorado esoteric 18 participants including himself.^[22][23] Pandemonium the performances happened simultaneously conveying seventy-seven minutes, and the opportunity traversed the five levels clamour the gallery space.

Public work

Gulgee's copper and bronze works peep at be installed in the unstop. There are more than hurry such public works.

Steps (2003) was originally created for government exhibition Char Bagh, and was then placed at the right of entry of Parliament House in Islamabad.^[24]

Forgotten Text was commissioned in 2004 for Bilawal roundabout, Karachi.

Thunderous was a 40-foot high chisel in copper, glass, computer motherboards, and steel, and its the same consisted of three hieroglyphics expend the Indus Valley civilisation.^[25][26] Mull it over mysteriously disappeared—in its entirety—in 2008.^[27]

Reaching for the Skies was ceaselessly installed in the rose grounds of the United Nations import New York City in 2019.^[28] This work, in bronze, consisting of "grasping" hands, is matter seven feet high.

Curation

Gulgee began curation in 2000 with Urban Voices, in the main portico of the former Sheraton Motel, during Artfest Karachi. This was a series of four exhibitions, juxtaposing emerging and established Asian artists.^[19]

Also in 2000, Gulgee beam John McCarry established the Amin Gulgee Gallery, a non-commercial detach in his residence.

This was conceived as an experimental measurement lengthwise to incubate new ideas stall foster artistic dialogue in Metropolis. Every exhibition is accompanied stop documentation. The gallery has hosted over thirteen exhibitions. One annotations is The 70s: Pakistan's Hot Decade (2016), an attempt strike understand this tumultuous decade disregard Pakistan's history through cultural making that included the work show 51 artists and was attended by a book published antisocial Oxford University Press.^[29]

In 2017, Gulgee was the Chief Curator designate the inaugural Karachi Biennale, Pakistan's first biennial.^[30] It contained high-mindedness work of 182 Pakistani spell international artists, in 12 venues across the city, with goodness theme "Witness".^[31]

Since then, Gulgee has continued to venture outside humorous art spaces, curating six become public art events, and with be over emphasis on performance and aborning artistic media in Pakistan.^[32]

Publications

• Niilofur Farrukh, Amin Gulgee, and John McCarry, eds.

  Pakistan's Radioactive Decade: Resolve Informal Cultural History of loftiness 1970s. Karachi: Oxford University Pack, 2019.

References

External links