Works by Season 1 artist Shahzia Sikander are on view at Ikon Gallery July 30 through September 14, 2008 in what constitutes the artist’s first major solo exhibition in the UK and her largest to-date in Europe. Shahzia Sikander: Intimate Ambivalence primarily focuses on works created in the last two years, including large-scale gouaches and a wall drawing made specifically for Ikon. A selection of early works will be presented alongside recent pieces that will be on view to the public for the first time.
Also included in the exhibition are a suite of graphite portraits of novices and monks resulting from Sikander’s recent travels to Laos. According to Ikon Gallery, these drawings “[establish] an interesting conceptual parallel between the monks’ changing lives under the influence of tourism and the artist’s ongoing preoccupations: contemplation of our ever-changing world where issues of mutability and transformation are crucial.” Visit Ikon’s online Media Gallery to view a brief slideshow related to Intimate Ambivalence.
Ikon Gallery is housed in the neo-gothic Oozells Street School in Birmingham, UK. Over the past 40 years, the space has developed a reputation for innovation, internationalism and excellence. Click here to learn more about Ikon and the four areas the make up their artistic program.
