Imran Qureshi

Named the Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year for 2013, Imran Qureshi combines traditional motifs and techniques of Islamic art with contemporary reflections on the relationship between Islam and the West. His investigations into ornamentation reference both the miniature painting of the Mughal tradition, in which he was trained, and large, site-specific installations in architectural space, which address both the building itself and its historical and political meanings. In May 2013, Qureshi will create the latest rooftop installation for the Metropolitan Museum. This volume discusses the specific interplay between the artist’s vision and the particulars of the space for which the work was created. An interview with Qureshi highlights the traditions from which his work derives, as well as the political and aesthetic connotations that inform this latest creation.

Sheena Wagstaff is chairman of the department of modern and contemporary art; Ian Alteveer is assistant curator in the department of modern and contemporary art; and Navina Najat Haidar is curator and administrator in the department of Islamic Art, all at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.