Meeting Hamra Abbas at the Canvas Gallery, Karachi, was a great pleasure as one had seen her amazing work in various exhibitions through the years. As an acclaimed international artist, Abbas divides her time between her studios in Bostan and Lahore. She is the mother of two small boys, the youngest just five months old, and for the next few months she will be residing in Lahore and working on a new series one hopes for the opportunity to see more of Abbas and her thought-provoking artwork.

She is an artist whose work has been shown extensively in the US, Europe, the Middle East, the Far East and Pakistan. For a number of years one has seen her work in various parts of the world at prestigious art events. There were several events in London, including the “Jameel Exhibition” in the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2009, where her work was shortlisted for the top honours.

Residing abroad, the exceptional artist maintains her links with her home country by showing her work in important group shows as well as solo exhibitions. Exploring her work, the emerging artists may learn from her versatility, while the mature art enthusiasts can keep abreast with international art developments.

Abbas did her masters in visual arts from the National College of Arts, Lahore, in 2002. She went on to further her studies at the UDK Berlin University where in 2004 she was awarded the Miesterschueler Prize and in 2005 the Dorothea Konwiarz Scholarship.

Reviewing her work, Justine Ludwig commented “As established by previous bodies of work, Hamra Abbas’s vision is vast – drawing from myriad sources to create her oeuvre. Unrestrained by subject matter or media, she allows herself to follow all lines of enquiry in order to create a diverse holistic body of work. Previous series address cultural history, sexuality, violence, ornamentation and faith in her manner of embracing multiplicity …”

The display of the artist’s latest work shown at the Canvas Gallery consists of a collection that includes examples of her multi-faceted skills with sculpture, miniature art and photography; subjects that Abbas majored in at the National College of Art, Lahore.

A ‘Kaaba pop-ups’ collection consists of 16 artworks formed of printed, handmade paper set in acrylic boxes. These are small, exquisite paper sculptures, the work of the miniaturist. The beautifully patterned paper sets the background for the miniature replica of the Kaaba that is the central aspect of the artwork.

The ‘Kaaba picture as a misprint’ is composed of a C-Print 137 x 110 centimetres in size, a brilliant feat of photography in which the artist raises profound questions, at the same time creating a dazzling artwork. It is documented that each of the ‘Kaaba’ series measuring 137 x 110 centimetres began as the size of a postage stamp, eventually through the fluid painted aspect of the work appearing as a colourful abstraction.

Blown up photographs of sculpted images of those extraordinary contemporary artists Louise Bourgeois and Joseph Beuys, were perceived as a humorous homage to those artists, with Abbas’s fingerprints embedded in their visages. Bourgeois, fondly known as ‘Spiderwoman’, created a giant spider sculpture for the Tate Modern Gallery, London. There, it was placed in the entrance where it attracted numerous visitors who sat beneath the sculpture as if sheltering from the outside world.

The German artist / academic Joseph Beuys, was a man who inspired many of his generation with distinction as a ‘Performance’ artist. Here Abbas has depicted him wearing his signature trilby hat. One traces much of Abbas’s work to her versatility in varied art methods, the large photographs actually depict miniature sculptures made of soft clay moulded and baked in an oven. Put together in tiny strips, the likeness to the subject is captured and one may judge the size of the actual work by the artist’s fingerprints texturing the work.

Abbas worked systematically on the C-Prints 120 by 80 centimetres in size, photographing the tiny sculpted pieces several times before eventually working on the photography aspect of the work. The sculpted portraits engagingly capture the personalities of the revered artists, as from their work, we understand them to have been.

The artist’s work is included in the collection of the British Museum, Borusan Foundation, Istanbul, Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon, India, Kadist Collection, Paris Kiran Nader Museum, Delhi, Koc Foundation, Turkey, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas USA, the Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, US, US Art in Embassies Collection, and the Vanhaerents Art Collection, Belgium.

She is an artist who has travelled extensively, participating in residencies and symposiums in many parts of the world, and has contributed to Biennales held internationally.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 4th, 2015

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