Imran Qureshi is Deutsche Bank’s 2013 “Artist of the Year.” Born 1972 in Pakistan, he studied in Lahore at the National College of Arts with a major in miniature painting—a traditional discipline that he teaches there today. Qureshi is considered to be one of the most important contemporary artists on the Subcontinent, not least because he reclaims the regionally and historically rooted discipline of miniature painting and transports it to the present day. His work constitutes a unique synthesis of the genre’s motifs and techniques with current issues and the formal language of contemporary abstract painting. Qureshi incorporates personal observations on everyday life in present- day Pakistan into his work while acknowledging that violence can be met with not only in his native country, but in many cultures and societies worldwide.
In Qureshi’s work, the exploration of ornament is both a return to tradition and a commentary on the present day. The artist converts miniature painting into site-specific installations that address archi- tectural space. Works such as Blessings Upon the Land of My Love, 2011 (Sharjah Biennale) or They Shimmer Still, 2012 (Biennale of Sydney) harbor references to the historical or political meaning of the respective buildings.
The show Imran Qureshi: Artist of the Year 2013 at the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle is the Pakistani artist’s first major presentation in Europe. He has created several large-scale paintings for this spring’s inaugural exhibition at the KunstHalle. A new series of Qureshi’s miniatures will be shown in an original architectural structure reminiscent of buildings from the Mogul period. The site-specific work And They Still Seek the Traces of Blood (2013) will be shown together with the new works, as will Qureshi’s Missiles series, which will be presented in the Kunst-Halle Studio.
(C) IMRAN QURESHI AND CORVI-MORA, LONDON.IMRAN QURESHI MODERATE ENLIGHTENMENT, 2006. 
(C) IMRAN QURESHI AND CORVI-MORA, LONDON.IMRAN QURESHI BLESSINGS UPON THE LAND OF MY LOVE, 2011TENMENT, 2006.
IMRAN QURESHI SELF-PORTRAIT, 2009
IMRAN QURESHI LOVE STORY, 1999. PRIVATE COLLECTION, LONDON
MODERATE ENLIGHTENMENT, 2009. COLLECTION OF ALI AND AMNA NAQVI
IMRAN QURESHI KAGAZ KAY SANAM, 2000. PRIVATE COLLECTION, LONDON
(C) IMRAN QURESHI AND CORVI-MORA, LONDON. STILL 18TH BIENNAL OF SYDNEY IMRAN QURESHI THEY SHIMMER, 2012
BLESSING UPON THE LAND OF MY LOVE, 2011, PAINT ON INTERLOCKING BRICK PAVEMENT, SITE.SPECIFIC INSTALLATION, COMISSIONED BY SHARJAH ART FOUNDATION, INSTALLATION VIEW. PHOTO BY ALFREDO RUBIO
BLESSING UPON THE LAND OF MY LOVE, 2011, PAINT ON INTERLOCKING BRICK PAVEMENT, SITE.SPECIFIC INSTALLATION, COMISSIONED BY SHARJAH ART FOUNDATION, INSTALLATION VIEW. PHOTO BY ALFREDO RUBIO
BERLIN 2013: QURESHI CREATING NEW WORKS
(C) IMRAN QURESHI, COURTESY CORVI-MORA GALLERY. TOGETHER, 2013. PHOTO: DAISY LOEWLImran Qureshi: Artist of the Year 2013 – Deutsche Bank KunstHalle
READ ALSO: THE 2012 FELTRON ANNUAL REPORT