Zahoor ul Akhlaq

Zahoor ul Akhlaq (February 4, 1941 – January 18, 1999) was a pioneering artist from Pakistan. He is known for his approach to painting, sculpture, design and architecture, as well as his teaching at the NCA (National College of Arts) in Lahore.

Background and family life

Born in Delhi, India, he was the eldest in a family of 11 children.^[1] His family moved to Lahore in after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, eventually settling in Karachi. Akhlaq attended the Sindh Madrassah as a young boy and went to study in art in Lahore at the National College of Arts. In 1971, he married Sheherezade Alam, a potter, and the couple had two daughters, Jahanara, (1974–1999), Nurjahan (b. 1979).

Education

1958-62, National Diploma in Fine Art; National College of Arts - Lahore, Pakistan
1966-67, Post graduate studies: Hornsey College of Art, London
1968-69, post graduate studies: Royal College of Arts, London;
1987 -89, post doctoral studies: Fulbright Research Fellowship at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music; Religion and the Arts, Yale University, USA and at Yale School of Arts and Architecture, Yale University.

Death

Akhlaq along with his elder daughter, Jahanara, was shot dead in their Lahore home on 18 January 1999.^[2]

Work and influences

Akhlaq's painting invoked a dialogue between modernist abstraction and many traditional forms and practices found within South Asia (including Mughal Miniature painting, calligraphy and vernacular architecture). At a time when his contemporaries in South Asia were developing their work within a modernist tradition, or had primitivist leanings, he eschewed both schools by merging his interest in abstractions with traditional and vernacular practices. Although he evaded the label of an abstract artist, his work mostly fits this definition.

Akhlaq's influences are from a vast range of sources, which include painting, literature, philosophy, Sufism, dance, and music. His teaching and practice is considered to have had a significant impact on a generation of Contemporary Pakistani art and artists.

Selected shows

1964 National exhibition, Lahore
1962 Solo exhibition, Karachi National Exhibition, Rawalpindi
1963 'Communication Through Art', Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Dhaka (Pakistan and Bangladesh)
Solo exhibition, Karachi
1965 RCD Biennale, Tehran (Iran), 2nd prize
National exhibition of arts, Dhaka
Solo exhibition, Art Galleries, Rawalpindi
Joint exhibition, Ministry of Culture, Now York and Montreal
1967 Museum of Modern Arts; Paris Also four exhibitions in London and Oxford, England.
1969 Lahore Museum
Post graduate show, Royal College of Art, London
1970 'Painting in Pakistan', travelling exhibition, 26 countries
1974 Solo exhibition, Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi
1975 'Graphics In Pakistan', Italy
1976 São Paulo Biennale (Brazil)
1981 Solo exhibition, Pakistan National Council of the Arts, Islamabad
1982 Hershorn Museum, Washington D.C.
'Thirty Five Years of Painting in Punjab', Lahore Asian Festival; Tokyo
1983 Represented Pakistan in Asian Festival of Art, Dhaka
1988 joint exhibition, Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Religion and the Arts, Yale University (USA)
1989 Solo exhibition, Yale University Solo exhibition, Galerie Mont Calm Hull, Canada
Solo exhibitions at Rohtas Gallery, Islamabad in 1982, 1990, 1992
Solo exhibitions at Chowkundi Gallery, Karachi, in 1986, 1990, 1991 and 1993
Solo exhibition at The Ziggurat Gallery, Karachi, in 1990.

Commissions and collections

Gallery Borgeson, Malmo, Sweden
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France
Wallraf Richartz Museum, Cologne, Germany
Bibliothèque Royale, Brussels, Belgium
British Council, London, UK
Argyll Collection (England)
Hiroshima Museum, Hiroshima, Japan
Print Making Workshop, New York City, United States
National Art Gallery, Islamabad, Pakistan
Embassies of Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur, London, Dacca, Delhi
Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey
Lalit Kala Academy, Delhi, India
National Museum, Amman, Jordan

Designs

The logo the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in Karachi was designed by him.^[3] In 1981, he designed 2 of a set of 5 stamps issued to mark the Third Islamic Summit Conference at Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Both designs (40 paisas and Re 1) depicted an Afghan refugee girl.

Academic appointments

1963-91 Lecturer in Art, then Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and finally full Professor of Art and Head of Department in the Faculty of Fine Arts, National College of Arts, Lahore from 1979 until his retirement
1991-'92 Visiting Professor at the Department of Fine Arts, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey
1994-'95 Visiting Professor, Ontario College of Art, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Memorials

The gallery at National College of Arts, Lahore is named in his memory^[4] as is the gallery at the Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture, Karachi.

Postage stamp

On 14 August 2006, Pakistan Post issued a Rs. 40 sheetlet to posthumously honour 10 Pakistani Painters. Besides Zahoor ul Akhlaq, the other 9 painters are: Laila Shahzada, Askari Mian Irani, Sadequain, Ali Imam, Shakir Ali, Anna Molka Ahmed, Zubeida Agha, Ahmed Pervez and Bashir Mirza.

Award

Sitara-i-Imtiaz (2005). Posthumously awarded in recognition of his contribution to the arts and education.

References

External links

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 4716335 SUDOC: 184315204 ULAN: 500123059

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