Lahore-based Imran Qureshi has been named Deutsche Bank’s Artist of the Year 2013. The award honours promising artists who address social issues in an individual way and who have created an outstanding oeuvre which concentrates on the two focal points of the Deutsche Bank Collection: works on paper, and photography.
Following the recommendation of Deutsche Bank’s Global Art Advisory Council, consisting of the internationally-renowned curators OkwuiEnwezor, HouHanru, UdoKittelmann, and Victoria Noorthoorn, the award was announced in Berlin, where Qureshi’s works will be shown in a major solo presentation at the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle in spring 2013.
“The award means a lot to me,” says Imran Qureshi. “It’s about a whole programme which is not only beneficial for the artist but is also a great opportunity for people all over the world to know about that artist through this exhibition. Apart from this, this is good news from Pakistan for Pakistani people and the artistic community which will project a positive image of the country to the outer world and that is the most important thing for me.”
Faizan Mitha, Chief Country Officer for Deutsche Bank in Pakistan, states: “We are extremely proud that a Pakistani artist has received this award for 2013 and thus drawn special attention to our country. Art builds. Art questions and transcends borders. This is why Deutsche Bank is committed to contemporary art.”
Deutsche Bank will open the Deutsche Bank Kunst Halle in Berlin next spring, creating an even more globally-oriented platform for contemporary art. The bank is concluding its successful collaboration with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and will start the new Deutsche Bank Kunst Halle programme with the presentation of Imran Qureshi as the Artist of the Year 2013 at his first solo institutional show in Europe. His award follows Wangechi Mutu in 2010, Y to Barradain 2011, and Roman Ondák in 2012.
Imran Qureshi is one of the most important figures on the Pakistani art scene. The artist, who was born in 1972, lives in Lahore where he teaches at the National College of Art. In his paintings and installations, he combines the centuries-old Islamic art form of miniature painting with conceptual approaches and elements of contemporary abstract painting.
