About.

  • MEHWISH IQBAL

    1981
    Born in Sangla hill, Pakistan

    1999
    BA in Fine Arts, Major in Painting, National College of Arts, Pakistan

    2008
    MA in Fine Arts, Major in Printmaking, University of New South Wales, Australia

  • RESIDENCIES

    2024
    Bundanon Art Trust, Bundanon, Australia

    2018
    The New York Art Residency & Studios (NARS) Foundation, New York, USA

    2016
    Parramatta Artist Studio, Sydney, Australia 


    2015
    Cicada Press COFA, University of New South Wales, Australia 


    2014
    Halka Arts Project, Istanbul Turkey
. 2014

    Bundanon Art Trust, Bundanon, Australia 


    2013
    Megalo, Print Studio, Canberra, Australia 


    2011
    The Art Student League, New York, USA

  • ART FAIRS

    2024
    Sydney Contemporary, Sydney, Australia

    2023
    Art SG, Singapore Art Fair


    Art Basel, Hong Kong

    Sydney Contemporary, Sydney, Australia

    2022
    Sydney Contemporary, Sydney, Australia

    Asia Now, Paris, France

    2021
    Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne, Australia

    2017
    Sydney Contemporary, Sydney, Australia.

    Hong Kong Art Central, Hong Kong

    2016
    Sydney Contemporary, Sydney, Australia

    2015
    Istanbul Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey

    2014
    Istanbul Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey

    International Print Biennale Karachi, Pakistan

  • SOLO EXHIBITIONS

    2024
    Submergence, Fairfield Museum and Gallery, Sydney, Australia


    2022
    Laa Makaan, Yavuz gallery, Sydney Australia

    2019
    The Distance Between Us, Nanda\Hobbs, Sydney, Australia.

    Mind, Body and State, HG Contemporary, New York, USA

    2017
    Flux, M. Contemporary, Sydney, Australia

    2015
    Subliminal Landscapes, Kare Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

    2014
    Diaspora, Paper Plane Gallery, Sydney, Australia

    Introspections of Sacred Space, Halka Arts Project Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

    2012
    Silent Diaspora, Paper Pane Gallery, Rozelle, Australia

  • GROUP EXHIBITIONS

    2024
    Belly and the Members, Yavuz Gallery, Sydney, Australia

    Settled/Unsettled, Maitland Regional Gallery, Sydney, Australia

    2023
    Soft Power, Goulburn Regional Gallery, Australia


    A Soft Touch, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Australia


    A Whisper Echoes Loudest, Fairfield City Museum and Gallery, Australia


    2022
    Flock Together, Yavuz Gallery, Sydney Contemporary, Australia

    2021
    Nanda\Hobbs, Melbourne Art Fair, Australia

    The National 2021, Museum of Contemporary Arts, Australia

    Soul Fury, Bendigo Art Gallery, 4th June, Australia

    Settle/Unsettle, Manly Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia

    2019
    Once Per Annum, Taksim Republic Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

    2018
    Surfaces, HG Contemporary, New York, USA

    New Sacred, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia

    Khalas, UNSW Galleries, Australia

    Imaginative Time, Kare Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

    65th Blake Prize, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Liverpool, Australia

    2017
    Know Your Neighbour, The Lockup, New Castle, Australia

    Paramor Art Prize, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Liverpool, Australia

    2016
    Diaspora Making Machine, Blacktown Art Centre, Australia

    64th Blake Prize, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Liverpool, Australia

    2015
    Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Australia

    2014
    Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Australia

    2012
    No Added Sugar, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Liverpool, Australia

  • GRANTS AND AWARDS

    2023
    Recipient of Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups, Australia Arts Council

    Recipient of Create NSW Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups

    2020
    Finalist, The Blake Prize, Liverpool, Australia

    2019
    Finalist, Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Sydney, Australia

    2018
    Finalist, The Blake Prize, Liverpool, Australia

    Finalist, Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Sydney, Australia

    2017
    Finalist, Paramor Art Prize, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Liverpool, Australia

    2015
    Finalist, Hobart Art Prize, Australia

    2014
    Finalist, Hobart Art Prize, Australia

    Ian Potters Cultural Trust Grant, Australia

    2011
    Recipient of Australian Arts Council Grant

    2010
    Viktoria Marinov Award in Art, University of New South Wales, Australia

Bio.

Mehwish Iqbal works across painting, printmaking, textiles, ceramics, sculpture and installation art. Her work provocatively explores notions of womanhood, courage, liberation, and power. She experiments with themes involving the complex, unfolding and fragile states of individuals, the monopoly of power-play, commodification of human agency, and the metamorphosis of hybrid identities. 

Her work examines the geopolitical scenarios giving rise to refugee and migrant diaspora and their complex reception in foreign environments. She actively engages with various communities to generate works that respond to the vulnerabilities and survival strategies of marginalized people in present and historic contexts.

Nature holds a very sacred place in Iqbal’s practice where she interweaves humans’ innate relationship with their natural environment. A parallelism between the nature of animal hierarchy and the dichotomy of human agency is often presented through a juxtaposition of flora and fauna, animal symbolism and the inclusion of archaic references in her work.