Zahoor ul Akhlaq

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Name Zahoor Akhlaq Role Artist


Died January 18, 1999, Lahore, Pakistan People also search for Sheherezade Alam, Mahmoud Alam, Momin Khan, Sarabjit Singh
Education National College of Arts

Pakistan kay namwar musawir zahoor ul akhlaq news package 18 jan 2016

Zahoor ul Akhlaq (February 4, 1941 – January 18, 1999) was a pioneering artist from Pakistan. He is known for his approach to painting, sculpture, design and architecture, as well as his teaching at the NCA (National College of Arts) in Lahore.

Nca british council exhibition at zahoor ul akhlaq art gallery pkg by raza zaidi city42

Background and family life

Zahoor ul Akhlaq Zahoor ul Akhlaq Hanging Fire

Born in Delhi, India, he was the eldest in a family of 11 children. His family moved to Lahore in after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, eventually settling in Karachi. Akhlaq attended the Sindh Madrassah as a young boy and went to study in art in Lahore at the Mayo School of Arts now (NCA). In 1971, he married Sheherezade Alam, a potter, and the couple had two daughters, Jahanara, (1974–1999), Nurjahan (b. 1979).

Education

Zahoor ul Akhlaq Zahoor ul Akhlaq 19411999 Untitled paper Christie39s

1958–62, National Diploma in Fine Art; National College of Arts – Lahore, Pakistan

1966–67, Post graduate studies: Hornsey College of Art, London

1968–69, post graduate studies: Royal College of Arts, London;

1987 -89, post doctoral studies: Fulbright Research Fellowship at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music; Religion and the Arts, Yale University, USA and at Yale School of Arts and Architecture, Yale University.

Death

Akhlaq along with his elder daughter, Jahanara, was shot dead in their Lahore home on 18 January 1999.

Work and influences

Zahoor ul Akhlaq Untitled modern Pakistani paintings by Zahoor Ul Akhlaq on artnet

Akhlaq's painting invoked a dialogue between modernist abstraction and many traditional forms and practices found within South Asia (including Mughal Miniature painting, calligraphy and vernacular architecture). At a time when his contemporaries in South Asia were developing their work within a modernist tradition, or had primitivist leanings, he eschewed both schools by merging his interest in abstractions with traditional and vernacular practices. Although he evaded the label of an abstract artist, his work mostly fits this definition.

Akhlaq's influences are from a vast range of sources, which include painting, literature, philosophy, Sufism, dance, and music. His teaching and practice is considered to have had a significant impact on a generation of Contemporary Pakistani art and artists.

Selected shows

1964 National exhibition, Lahore

1962 Solo exhibition, Karachi National Exhibition, Rawalpindi

1963 'Communication Through Art', Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Dhaka (Pakistan and Bangladesh)

Solo exhibition, Karachi

1965 RCD Biennale, Tehran (Iran), 2nd prize

National exhibition of arts, Dhaka

Solo exhibition, Art Galleries, Rawalpindi

Joint exhibition, Ministry of Culture, Now York and Montreal

1967 Museum of Modern Arts; Paris Also four exhibitions in London and Oxford, England.

1969 Lahore Museum

Post graduate show, Royal College of Art, London

1970 'Painting in Pakistan', travelling exhibition, 26 countries

1974 Solo exhibition, Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi

1975 'Graphics In Pakistan', Italy

1976 São Paulo Biennale (Brazil)

1981 Solo exhibition, Pakistan National Council of the Arts, Islamabad

1982 Hershorn Museum, Washington D.C.

'Thirty Five Years of Painting in Punjab', Lahore Asian Festival; Tokyo

1983 Represented Pakistan in Asian Festival of Art, Dhaka

1988 joint exhibition, Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Religion and the Arts, Yale University (USA)

1989 Solo exhibition, Yale University Solo exhibition, Galerie Mont Calm Hull, Canada

Solo exhibitions at Rohtas Gallery, Islamabad in 1982, 1990, 1992

Solo exhibitions at Chowkundi Gallery, Karachi, in 1986, 1990, 1991 and 1993

Solo exhibition at The Ziggurat Gallery, Karachi, in 1990.

Commissions and collections

Gallery Borgeson, Malmo, Sweden

Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France

Wallraf Richartz Museum, Cologne, Germany

Bibliothèque Royale, Brussels, Belgium

British Council, London, UK

Argyll Collection (England)

Hiroshima Museum, Hiroshima, Japan

Print Making Workshop, New York City, United States

National Art Gallery, Islamabad, Pakistan

Embassies of Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur, London, Dacca, Delhi

Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey

Lalit Kala Academy, Delhi, India

National Museum, Amman, Jordan

Designs

The logo the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in Karachi was designed by him. In 1981, he designed 2 of a set of 5 stamps issued to mark the Third Islamic Summit Conference at Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Both designs (40 paisas and Re 1) depicted an Afghan refugee girl.

Academic appointments

1963–91 Lecturer in Art, then Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and finally full Professor of Art and Head of Department in the Faculty of Fine Arts, National College of Arts, Lahore from 1979 until his retirement

1991–'92 Visiting Professor at the Department of Fine Arts, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey

1994–'95 Visiting Professor, Ontario College of Art, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Memorials

The gallery at National College of Arts, Lahore is named in his memory as is the gallery at the Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture, Karachi.

Postage stamp

On 14 August 2006, Pakistan Post issued a Rs. 40 sheetlet to posthumously honour 10 Pakistani Painters. Besides Zahoor ul Akhlaq, the other 9 painters are: Laila Shahzada, Askari Mian Irani, Sadequain, Ali Imam, Shakir Ali, Anna Molka Ahmed, Zubeida Agha, Ahmed Pervez and Bashir Mirza.

Award

Sitara-i-Imtiaz (2005). Posthumously awarded in recognition of his contribution to the arts and education.

References

Zahoor ul Akhlaq Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA