Hamra Abbas Pakistani , b. 1976
Hamra Abbas received formal training in sculpture and Indo-Persian style of miniature painting at the National College of Arts in Lahore. Departing from this traditional background, Abbas integrates contemporary mediums like digital art, installation and performance into her art. Throughout her artistic journey, she delves into the physical manifestations of faith, ritual, and tradition.
The artist's pluri-disciplinary practice initially encapsulates the delicate interplay of vulnerability and fragility within her work. Her approach first draws inspiration from the various locations she has resided in, including Berlin and Boston. As an immigrant, she embodies a fleeting state reflected in the ephemeral, weightless quality of her work, reminiscent of paper or live performances. This quality not only renders her creations easily transportable but also underscores their fleeting existence. In 2015, upon returning to Pakistan, her homeland, a profound shift occurred. Her art evolved from this transient phase to embrace a more permanent production, mirroring her journey back to her roots. Her return to Pakistan inspired her to incorporate marble inlay, drawn from the local context of marble factories, adding a new dimension to her artistic expression. This transition signifies a pivotal moment where the impermanence gave way to permanence, invoking a sense of stability and belonging inherent to her home and heritage.
Today, her artistic practice draws inspiration from the concept of a garden—an emblem of ecology, environment, and a metaphorical allusion to the garden of paradise. This evolution reflects a deeper connection to her surroundings, entwining her art with themes of nature and the environment. Her new body of work blossoms with cascading waterfalls, towering trees, and intricate depiction of flowers, each element a part of her garden, whether standing individually or interwoven in larger, harmonious compositions. These patterns—reminiscent of Mughal gardens and the vibrant colors emblematic of the region's rich culture—adorn the marble inlays, evoking a sense of serenity and wonder. As part of her research and practice, Hamra has been documenting the northern regions of Pakistan, which include a recent journey to the base camp of K2, a nod to South Asia's majestic landscapes. At the heart of it all lies something deeply intimate and autobiographical, where every creation springs forth from a personal narrative, inviting viewers into the artist's inner world.
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The Piece Might Be Abstract, But its Made of Rubber and Looks Like the Male Organ, 2012
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Kaaba Picture As A Misprint 3, 2014
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Kaaba Picture As A Misprint 5, 2014
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Kaaba Picture As A Misprint 6, 2014
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One Rug, Any Color, 2016
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Please Do Not Step: Loss of a Magnificent Story, 2017
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Place . Labour . Capital 4, 2017
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Place . Labour . Capital 5, 2017
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Place . Labour . Capital 13, 2017
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Misprint 1 (Diptych), 2019
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Construction Drawing 1 (Square), 2019
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Open Cube: After LeWitt 5, 2019
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Misprint 2 (Diptych), 2019
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Misprint 3 (Diptych), 2019
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Open Cube: After LeWitt 2, 2019
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Open Cube: After LeWitt 4, 2019
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Open Cube: After LeWitt 8, 2019
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Open Cube: After LeWitt 9, 2019
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Trees: Gardens of Paradise, 2020
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Fruits: Gardens of Paradise III, 2020
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Garden, 2021
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Flowers: Gardens of Paradise 2, 2021
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Waterfall 2, 2022
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Commission for Cincinnati Art Museum, 2022
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Mountain 3, 2022
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Please Do not Step 2, 2008
Hamra Abbas (Pakistani, b. 1976, Kuwait) received her BFA and MA in Visual Arts from the National College of Arts, Lahore in 1999 and 2002 respectively before attending Universitaet der Kuenste in Berlin where she did the Meisterschueler in 2004.
She has exhibited internationally with recent solo exhibitions including: Frieze Seoul with Lawrie Shabibi, Focus Asia sector, Seoul, South Korea (2023); COLOR | GARDEN, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2022; Color Wheel, Canvas gallery, Karachi, 2021; Every Colour is a Shade of Black, COMO Museum of Art, Lahore, 2020; Open Cube, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2019; Gardens in Which Rivers Flow: Plastic Flowers and Everyday Miracles, Art Dubai with Canvas Gallery, Dubai, 2019; Color, Canvas gallery, Karachi, 2017; Bodies, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2016; But Can You Show this in Pakistan? PILOT, Istanbul, 2015; and, Kaaba Picture as a Misprint, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2014.
Her work has been exhibited as part of numerous group shows including:
MANZAR: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today, National Museum of Qatar; Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2024, Diriyah, Riyadh, 2024; Lahore Biennale 2024, Lahore, Pakistan; Highlights, Ithra Museum, King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, Dhahran, KSA, 2023; Beyond the Page: South Asian Miniature Painting and Britain, 1600 to Now, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, UK, 2023 ; Brand New Ancients, Misk Art Institute, Riyadh, KSA, 2023; STILL, LIFE! MOURNING, MEANING, MENDING, 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville, Arkansas, USA, 2023; Flowers: Gardens of Paradise 2, Art Mill Museum, Al Najada Heritage House #15, Doha, Qatar, 2022; Ornamenting Relation, Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada, 2022; Art Dubai Contemporary, with Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2022; Precaution, ARTER, Istanbul, Turkey, 2021; Tonight No Poetry Will Serve, Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, 2021; Under Construction, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2021; Art Dubai Contemporary, with Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2021; Gateway: Fragments, Yesterday and Today, Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Abu Dhabi, 2019; Second Karachi Biennale, Bagh Ibn e Qasim, Karachi, 2019; She Persists, Palazzo Benzon, Venice (2019); Art Dubai Contemporary, with Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2018; Lahore Biennale, Lahore, 2018; Global Control and Censorship, Galeria Arsenal, Bialystok, 2017; Karachi Biennale, Karachi, 2017; Sanctuary, FOR-SITE Foundation, San Francisco, 2017; Insights, Art Basel Hong Kong, with Lawrie Shabibi, 2017.
Abbas is an Honoree of the Asia Arts Game Changer Awards 2021. She is the recipient of the Jury prize at Sharjah Biennial 9, the Abraaj Capital Art Prize in 2011 and was shortlisted for the Jameel Prize in 2009.
In 2021, Abbas presented Garden (2021) - a large-scale public art intervention commissioned under the Expo 2020 Dubai Public Art Programme, and intended to remain on site as part of the future city of District 2020.
Her work is part of significant collections, including: the British Museum, London, UK; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas, USA; 21c Museum Hotel, Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio, USA; Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, USA; USA Art In Embassies Collection, USA; Burger Collection, Hong Kong; Koç Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey; Borusan Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey; Kadist Collection, Paris, France; Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels, Belgium; Devi Art Foundation, Guragon, India; Kiran Nader Museum of Art, New Delhi, India; King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), Saudi Arabia; Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, UAE; Art Jameel Collection, Dubai, UAE; Zayed National Museum, UAE; Qatar Museums, Doha, Qatar; Dubai Collection, Dubai, UAE; EXPO 2020, Dubai, UAE.
Abbas currently lives and works between Lahore and Boston.
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Hamra Abbas Features in exhibition at the National Museum of Qatar
MANZAR: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today 1 Nov 2024 - 31 Jan 2025Hamra Abbas will present a selection of her works, including Porters 2 (2024) and Flowers: Gardens of Paradise (2020), at the upcoming exhibition *MANZAR: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s...Read more -
Hamra Abbas at the Misk Art Institute
Group Exhibition 15 Mar - 15 Jun 2023Hamra Abbas takes part in the ‘Brand New Ancients’ group exhibition on view at Misk Art Institute in Riyadh, KSA.Read more -
Hamra Abbas: COLOR | GARDEN
Solo Exhibition 8 Mar - 7 May 2022 GalleryCOLOR | GARDEN is the forth solo exhibition of Hamra Abbas (b. 1976, Kuwait) at the gallery, presenting a set of conceptual prints alongside new marble inlay works that extend...Read more -
Under Construction
Group Exhibition 31 May - 26 Jun 2021 GalleryUnder Construction, a group exhibition held in two parts, presents a series of incomplete, evolving, overlapping, paradoxical concepts - building structures, formulating symbols, manufacturing appearance, fabricating histories and reconstituting anatomies....Read more -
We Do Not Dream Alone: Asia Society Triennial
Hamra Abbas 27 Oct 2020 - 7 Feb 2021 BiennialsThe inaugural Asia Society Triennial, a festival of art, ideas, and innovation, is slated to run October 27, 2020 through June 27, 2021. Featuring 40 artists and 18+ commissioned works,...Read more -
Miniature 2.0
Hamra Abbas and Shahpour Pouyan at the Pera Museum, Istanbul 11 Aug 2020 - 17 Jan 2021 MuseumsFocusing on contemporary approaches to miniature painting, the exhibition brings together the works of 14 artists from different countries such as Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. The artists...Read more -
Upsurge: Waves, Colour and Illusion
Group Exhibition 18 Mar - 1 Sep 2020 GalleryBringing together the diverse range of practices of a multi-generational group of artists - Mohamed Melehi (b.1936, Morocco), Mona Saudi (b.1945, Jordan), Hamra Abbas (b.1976, Kuwait), Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim (b....Read more -
Every Colour is a Shade of Black
Hamra Abbas at COMO Art Museum 1 Jan - 1 Jun 2020 MuseumsIn his recent essay The Changing Colours of Istanbul, Orhan Pamuk laments on the disappearance of yellow light from shops and houses in Istanbul. Instead, white fluorescent light has taken...Read more -
Hamra Abbas: Open Cube
Solo Exhibition 18 Nov 2019 - 14 Jan 2020 GalleryOpen Cube is Hamra Abbas’ third solo at the gallery, featuring a series of new conceptual prints and marble inlay works that focus on form, line, and colour in the...Read more -
Trees: Gardens of Paradise
Hamra Abbas at the Karachi Biennale (KB19) 26 Oct - 12 Nov 2019 BiennialsThe thematic for KB19 is inspired by ecological consequences of dense urbanization – “Flight Interrupted: Eco-leaks from the Invasion Desk”. The title invokes loss of species of low flying birds...Read more -
Lahore Biennial (LB01)
HAMRA ABBAS, NADIA KAABI-LINKE & SHAHPOUR POUYAN 18 - 31 Mar 2018 BiennialsAbbas, Kaabi-Linke and Pouyan are slated to participate in the inaugural edition of the Lahore Biennale (LB01), which takes place between 18 - 31 March, 2018. Lahore Biennale 01 is...Read more -
Bodies
Hamra Abbas 18 Sep - 8 Nov 2016 GalleryLawrie Shabibi launches the new art season with “Bodies” a solo exhibition by Hamra Abbas, her second at the gallery. Moving effortlessly between a variety of materials, “Bodies” is influenced...Read more -
Kaaba Picture as a Misprint
Hamra Abbas 26 Apr - 27 May 2014 GalleryLawrie Shabibi is pleased to present Kaaba Picture as a Misprint a solo exhibition by Hamra Abbas. Kaaba Picture as a Misprint marks the return of the artist to the...Read more
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The Guardian: Hamra Abbas in the exhibition uncovering the history of South Asian miniatures
Nicholas Wroe, The Guardian, October 6, 2023 -
Artsy: The 10 Best Booths at Frieze Seoul 2023
Arun Kakar, Artsy, September 8, 2023 -
Gulf Today: Lawrie Shabibi presents works of Hamra Abbas at Frieze Seoul 2023
Muhammad Yusuf, GULF TODAY , August 25, 2023 -
Hamra Abbas in The Curator Mag
Zena Khan, The Curator Mag, March 21, 2022 -
Asian Art Newspaper interviews Hamra Abbas
Olivia Sand, Asian Art Newspaper, November 8, 2020 -
Hamra Abbas interview with Art Radar
C. A. Xuân Mai Ardia, Art Radar, October 17, 2016 -
HAMRA ABBAS ON BLOUIN ARTINFO
Blouin Artinfo Datebook, Blouin Artinfo, October 13, 2016 -
Kaaba Magic: An Investigation of Works by Hamra Abbas
Laura Egerton, Contemporary Practices, March 1, 2015 -
The Sound of Broken Clapping
Hanae Ko, Art Asia Pacific