Hamra Abbas b. 1976
Hamra Abbas' artistic practice draws from a myriad of sources and takes a diversity of forms. Her works originate from encounters and experiences - an image, icon or gesture - that are manipulated by the artist transforming its scale, function or medium. Her intention is to deconstruct the act of seeing by recreating images that form part of a collective memory. Unrestrained by subject matter or media, she takes an investigative approach to produce a diverse and holistic body of work addressing notions of cultural history, sexuality, violence, ornamentation, devotion and faith.
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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 1, 2014
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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 2, 2014
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Kaaba Picture As A Misprint 4, 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 1, 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 6, 2019
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Open Cube: After LeWitt 7, 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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Please Do not Step 2, 2008
Hamra Abbas was born in Kuwait in 1976. She received her BFA and MA in Visual Arts from the National College of Arts, Lahore in 1999 and 2002 respectively before going on to the Universitaet der Kuenste in Berlin where she did the Meisterschueler in 2004.
Recent solo exhibitions include Every Colour is a Shade of Black, COMO Art Museum, Lahore, 2020; Open Cube, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2019; Colour, 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 major group shows including: Between the Sun and the Moon, Second Lahore Biennale (LB02), Lahore, 2020; Gateway: Fragments, Yesterday and Today, Abu Dhabi Art Fair, 2019; Second Karachi Biennale, Bagh Ibn e Qasim, Karachi, 2019; She Persists, Palazzo Benzon, Venice, 2019 (Collateral Event); Lahore Biennale, 2018; Global Control and Censorship, Galeria Arsenal, Bialystok, Poland, 2017; Karachi Biennale, 2017; Sanctuary, FOR- SITE Foundation, San Francisco, 2017-2018; Insights, Art Basel Hong Kong, with Lawrie Shabibi, 2017; The Making of an Institution, NTU CCA, Singapore, 2017; Text Edit, Mannhattan Bridge Anchorage, Brooklyn 2016 ; and Accademia di Brera, Milan, 2016.
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.
Her work is part of significant international collections, including the British Museum, London; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas; 21 C Museum, Louisville; Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena; USA Art In Embassies Collection; Burger Collection, Hong Kong; Koç Foundation, Istanbul; Borusan Foundation, Istanbul; Kadist Collection, Paris; Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels; Devi Art Foundation, Guragon; Kiran Nader Museum of Art, New Delhi; King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), Dhahran; and Cleveland Clinic, Abu Dhabi.
Abbas currently lives and works between Lahore and Boston.
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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
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 -
Open Cube
Hamra Abbas 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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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