Quddus Mirza


Quddus Mirza is a Pakistani art critic, artist, and art educator based in Lahore. He currently writes in , and is the co-author of the book “”, “”, and “”. His writings have been published in national and international newspapers and magazines.

Life

Quddus Mirza was born in 1961. He graduated from National College of Arts Lahore in 1986 and completed post-graduate work at the Royal College of Arts London in 1991. He is famous for his writings on Pakistani art.

Art career

Mirza’s work deals with the issues of pictorial investigation. He transmits the meaning of images created by collective consciousness in our society through media. His paintings address the multiplicity of meaning by fusing the five senses of a viewer. He deliberately uses bright colors and paints with gestural and inlaid social and political intent. Mirza uses division of space and overlapping of brush strokes for effect.

His writings

Trained as a visual artist, Mirza has been writing on Pakistani art for a decade in , Herald, and in .
In his writings, Mirza analyzes the parallel between east and west. He has rejected the term Pakistani art. He said there is nothing that can be called Pakistani art; he says that more properly, such work should be called "art from Pakistan". His writings address the issues revolving around art and life. Being an art educator, Mirza also questions problems in art education, as well as the role of art galleries and institutions shaping and reshaping Pakistani art. In his writings he examines the conventional trends of art in Pakistan, especially those initiated by modern miniaturists who transformed it for foreign curators due to the tastes of the art market in the West.

Articles