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, mapping interwoven states of consciousness where memory and presence converge.
Over nearly four decades, Quraishi has cultivated a distinctive visual language grounded in material tactility and metaphysical inquiry. Her work has been widely exhibited in Pakistan and internationally, including the Istanbul and Karachi Biennales, the landmark exhibition MANZAR: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today (2024) at the National Museum of Qatar, and the Uluslararasi Ekim Geçidi Istanbul Bienal (2025), where her documentary NAYYAR: An Art Story was presented.
She was 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 and enduring force.
Curriculum Vitae
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
2025 — Ekim Gecidi Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey
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