Photo Courtesy: Nael Quraishi
Ayessha Quraishi (b. 1970, Karachi, Pakistan) is a multidisciplinary artist working across painting, time-based media, and hybrid digital forms. Initially mentored by Nayyar Jamil, she developed a meditative process of layering and erasure that maps the mycelium of consciousness, where memory and presence converge.
Over nearly four decades, Quraishi has cultivated a distinctive visual language rooted in material tactility and metaphysical inquiry. Her work has been widely exhibited in Pakistan and abroad, including the Istanbul and Karachi Biennales, and the landmark exhibition MANZAR: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today (2024) at the National Museum of Qatar. Her practice extends into film as well, with the 2023 documentary NAYYAR: An Art Story.
She has been a finalist for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize (2022) and is the recipient of the ADA Award (2021), the British Council PKUK New Perspectives grant (2022), and a Patakha Pictures grant (2023). Her mid-career retrospective Between Light (2020), accompanied by a comprehensive 350-page monograph, marked a pivotal moment in her evolving practice. Represented in major permanent and private collections, Quraishi’s work continues to shape the discourse of South Asian abstraction with a quiet yet enduring force.
CV
Awards & Grants
2023 — Grantee, Patakha Pictures – Stories from Southern Pakistan
2022 — Finalist, The Sovereign Asian Art Prize
2022 — Grantee, British Council Pakistan | PKUK New Perspectives
2021 — Recipient, ADA Award, Architecture Design Art Awards
Solo Exhibitions
2024 — Temporary Homes Cast Temporary Shadows, Koel Gallery, Karachi
2020 — Between Light (Mid-Career Retrospective), Koel Gallery, Karachi
2018 — All that is, is held, Canvas Gallery, Karachi
2016 — Open Presence, Koel Gallery, Karachi
2013 — Liminal, Khaas Art Gallery, Islamabad
2013 — Continuous / Present, Rothas II, Lahore
2012 — Letters from An Underground Vein Read, Koel Gallery, Karachi
1998 — Indus Gallery, Karachi
1997 — The Art Gallery, Islamabad
1995 — NCA Gallery, Lahore
1995 — Gallery Ardeco, Avignon, France
Selected Group Exhibitions
International
2024 — MANZAR: Art & Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today, National Museum of Qatar, Doha, Qatar
2024 — Anonymous Exhibition, Sovereign Art Foundation, Art Central, Hong Kong
2023 — Flow, Mission Gallery, Swansea, Wales
2022 — The 2022 Sovereign Asian Art Prize Finalists Exhibition, Art Central, Hong Kong
2014 — Mostra Internazionale di Pittura, Matera, Italy
2013 — Pakistani Art Supporting WFP, Christie’s, Dubai, UAE
2012 — Abstract Art in Contemporary Russia, Moscow, Russia
Pakistan
2025 — Dialogues Across Time, Curated by Saira Danish Ahmed, Chawkandi Art, Karachi
2024 — 125th Show, Curated by Arjumand Faisel, Gallery 6, Islamabad
2022 — Sculptor/Sculpture, Como Museum, Lahore
2022 — Lines of Inquiry, Curated by Nusrat Khawja, Chawkandi Art Gallery, Karachi
2022 — Well Come Back Home, Curated by Shanal Kazi, Koel Gallery & Full Circle Gallery, Karachi
2022 — Something Borrowed Something New, Curated by Arshad Faruqi, Copper and Steel, Karachi
2021 — Khat-o-Kitabat: Connecting Past Present Future, Curated by R.M. Naeem and Nurayah Sheikh Nabi, O’Art Space, Lahore
2017 — Recorded Time, Curated by Sadia Salim, Koel Gallery, Karachi
2016 — Open Field: Contemporary Art from Pakistan, Curated by Aasim Akhtar, Kuch Khaas, Islamabad
Full list available on request.
Biennales
2019 — Uluslararası Istanbul Biennale, Turkey
2017 — Karachi Biennale, Pakistan
2013 — Bodrum Biennial, Turkey
2011 — Biennial Izmir, Turkey
Residencies
2017 — Recorded Time, Koel Gallery, Karachi
2013 — Hic - 2 Workshop, Turgutreis / Bodrum, Turkey
2011 — Winter Academy, Fayoum, Egypt
2010 — International Painting Symposium, Luxor, Egypt
1996 — Association Saint-Henri, France
Public Art Festivals
2020 — IPAF Karachi ki khoj: Redefining the Metropolis, NED University, Karachi
Fairs & Auctions
2024 — Anonymous Exhibition, Sovereign Art Foundation, Art Central, Hong Kong
2022 — The Sovereign Asian Art Prize, Art Central, Hong Kong
2013 — Pakistani Art Supporting WFP, Christie’s, Dubai
Collections
Permanent Collection — HBL Mega Towers, Karachi
Permanent Collection — Rangoonwala Foundation, UK
Private Collections — Europe, USA, and Asia
Publications
2020 — Monograph: Between Light: Ayessha Quraishi – Works: 1985–2020