Shahzia Sikander: Extraordinary Realities

Pakistani American artist Shahzia Sikander (RISD MFA 1995, Painting and Printmaking) is internationally celebrated for bringing Indo-Persian miniature-painting traditions into dialogue with contemporary art practice. This exhibition tracks the first 15 years of this artistic journey, from her groundbreaking deconstruction of miniature painting in Pakistan to the development of a new personal vocabulary at RISD, expanded explorations around identity as a Core fellow at the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and her global outlook during her first years in New York. During this period, Sikander richly interrogated gender, sexuality, race, class, and history, creating open-ended narratives that have sustained her work as one of the most significant artists working today.

Extraordinary Realities will travel to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Morgan Library and Museum, New York in 2021. A comprehensive publication will accompany this musuem exhibit with contributions from Jan Howard, Sadia Abbas, Gayathri Gopinath, Kishwar Rizvi, Vasif Kortun, Rick Lowe, Julie Mehredu, Dennis Congdon, Bashir Ahmad and Faisal Devji.