For Talpur, the confrontation of images with words is like that of the body with the soul, but when they enter into an eternal and sacred state of mind, they become the ultimate expression of life. Calligraphy is a subtle method, which the artist uses to scratch his body and soul. It is neither a political nor a social comment but an investigation of Islamic philosophical and sacred art. Uncountable curved and straight lines dancing like a classical dancer draw the viewers attention to the deepest visual experience of form, as is the idea in South Asian philosophy.
Talpur’s current body of work stems from his desire to make “art without content” — to go back to the craft of drawing. Sitting on the rooftop of his studio, he began tracing the flight paths of birds with felt tip on paper. This developed into his current series of work where he meditatively, sometimes obsessively, immerses himself in the line: closely woven, intense clusters of lines in ink on paper, and acrylic on canvas. His lines loosen, yet his works maintain their woven quality in his machine drawings series, where he manipulates a printing press used to produce school exercise books.
About the artist:
Mohammad Ali Talpur was born in 1976 in Hyderabad, Pakistan. He attended the National College of Arts in Lahore, where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in 1998. Talpur participated in the Khoj International Public Art Residency in Delhi in 2006, and the Vasl Artist’s Residency and exhibition in 2005, and was awarded the M.D. Taseer Scholarship at the National College of Arts in Lahore.
Talpur has exhibited his works in several solo shows in the subcontinent and internationally. These include ‘Alif’ at Canvas art gallery Lahore 2013, ‘Alif’ at Green Cardamom London 2012, ‘Leeka’ at Art & Public Geneva 2008; ’Leeka’ at X.V.A. Gallery Dubai 2008; ‘Leeka’ at Gallery space London 2007; and ‘Leeka’ at Zahoor-Ul-Akhlaque Gallery Lahore 2004.
Some of the group exhibitions in which his work has featured are ‘Ethereal’, curated by Dr. Amin Jaffer at Leila Heller Gallery, New York in 2014; ‘Dhaka Art Summit’, Latitude 28 booth in 2014; ‘Crossing Over’, curated by Ambereen Karamat at Latitude 28, New Delhi in 2013; ‘Art Dubai’, Grosvenor Gallery booth in 2013; ‘Drawn from Life’ at Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal in 2011; ‘Resemble/Reassemble’ at the Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon in 2010; ‘Fathay Jay AassayPaassey’ at V.M. Art Gallery, Karachi in 2010; ‘The Rising Tide: New Directions in Art from Pakistan 1990–2010’ at Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi in 2010; ‘Mashq: repetition, meditation, mediation’ and ‘Drawn from Life: Drawing Process’ at Green Cardamom, London, in 2009 and 2008 respectively; Pakistan Pavilion, Dubai Art Fair in 2008, ‘Punctured and Unravelled’, Green Cardamom, London in 2007; ‘Orients sans Frontieres’ Espace Louis Vuitton, Paris, ‘Around the Miniature’, Lahore, in 2003; Zahoor-Ul-Akhlaque Gallery, Lahore in 2000; and the Punjab Artist's Association, Alhamra Arts Council, Lahore in 1997.
His work is in several private n public collections in India, Pakistan and internationally, including the British Museum, Queensland gallery and Devi Art foundation.
He currently teaches at National College of Arts and has his studio in Lahore.
