Qaisar Iqbal’s work interplays between abstraction and realism, through which he hopes to construct a visually poetic syntax of his experiential reality. His approach towards his subjects, resting figures, flowers, bodies in motion, a horse at gallop, or urban landscapes, derives from a long history and a comprehensive understanding of color theory and solid drawing. While the forms communicate perspective, light, weight, and texture, his application of paint and the use of color and space emphasizes the gestural, the more playful, and an impressionistic view of reality. Exploration and adaptation of contemporary approaches towards art-making combined with traditional practices and principles is evident in all of Iqbal’s works. The balanced permutations and arrangements of the controlled hand, juxtaposed with the hand at play, bring about the morphological meaning that Iqbal aims to suggest in his works.
Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Qaisar Iqbal received his MFA from the National College of Arts, Lahore, in Graphic Design and Illustration. He has over twenty years of experience in teaching at the University level including National College of Arts, Lahore, Indus Valley school of Art and Architecture, Karachi, and Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. His artwork has been exhibited in galleries nationally and internationally and is in both private and public collections. Iqbal currently works and resides in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia.
2009 ISHQ Fine Arts Gallery and Textile Studio, Richmond, VA
2008 ISHQ Fine Arts Gallery and Textile Studio, Richmond, VA
2008 American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Washington DC
2008 Zenobia, Washington DC
2008 Pakistan Embassy, Washington DC
2007 American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Washington DC
2006 American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Washington DC
2005 Chasen Galleries, Richmond, VA
2004 Suitable for Frame Art Gallery, Richmond, VA
2000 Discovery Galleries, Bethesda, MD
1999 Brazier Fine Arts Gallery, Richmond, VA
1999 Colonial Downs, Richmond, VA
1995 Karachi Sheraton, Karachi, Pakistan
1993 Bearsford Sporting Art Gallery, Saratoga, NY
1993 Cavalier Art Gallery, Stamford, CT
1992 Bearsford Sporting Art Gallery, Saratoga, NY
1991 Bearsford Sporting Art Gallery, Saratoga, NY
1991 Exhibit Plus, Karachi, Pakistan
1990 Bearsford Sporting Art Gallery, Potomac, MD
1989 Faber Biren Annual Award Show, Stamford, CT
1989 Museum of Science and Industry, Bridgeport, CT
1988 American Center, Karachi, Pakistan
1987 Lahore Hilton, Lahore, Pakistan
1987 Karachi Sheraton, Karachi, Pakistan
1978 Al-Hamra Art Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan
1976 National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan