Idris Khan OBE | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Khan in 2017 | |
| Born | Idris Khan (1978-12-01)1 December 1978 (age 46) Birmingham, UK |
| Education | University of Derby,RCA |
| Known for | Fine art, Photography, Painting, drawing, sculpture |
| Spouse | Annie Morris |
| Awards | American Architecture Award |
Idris KhanOBE (born 1978) is a British artist[1] based in London.[2]
Khan's work draws from a diverse range of cultural sources including literature, history, art, music, and religion. He creates densely layered imagery that is both abstract and figurative and addresses narratives of history, cumulative experience and the metaphysical collapse of time into single moments.
Khan is aMuslim by origin. His father is fromPakistan[3] and hisEnglish mother converted to Islam after meeting his father.
Khan graduated inphotography from theUniversity of Derby in 2001, he studied for an MA at theRoyal College of Art in 2004.[4]
Khan's photographs or scans originate from secondary source material – for instance, every page of theQur'an, everyBeethoven sonata, everyWilliam Turner postcard fromTate Britain, or everyBernd and Hilla Becher sphericalgasholder.[2][5] Khan's interest in Islam and layered imagery can be traced back to his upbringing: It was his father's idea that Khan – himself a non-practicing Muslim – photograph every page of the Qur'an.[6][7] His work and process have been described as "experiments in compressed memories"[8] and "all-encompassing composites."[9] As Khan describes: "It is a challenge to not define my work as a photograph but using the medium of photography to create something that exists on the surface of the paper and not to be transported back to an isolated moment in time."[9] He takes inspiration fromSamuel Barber’sAdagio for Strings andAntonio Vivaldi'sThe Four Seasons and made a ballet withWayne McGregor andMax Richter.[10]
Khan's visual layering also occurs in his videos, such asLast Three Piano Sonatas…after Franz Schubert, a three-channel video installation wherein he uses multiple camera angles to capture numerous performances ofSchubert's last sonatas, composed on his deathbed.[11]
In 2012, Khan was commissioned by theBritish Museum in London to create a new wall drawing for the exhibition,Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam. In addition to the wall drawing, a sculpture was installed in the museum's Great Court.[12] Also in 2012,The New York Times Magazine commissioned Khan to create a new body of work that was published in their London issue,[13] focusing on iconic sites.[14]
In 2016, Khan was commissioned to build a 42,000 m2 (450,000 sq ft) memorial to the war dead of theUnited Arab Emirates. The sculpture is constructed from seven aluminium-encased steel tablets, cast with poems by emirs of the UAE.[15]
In 2025, theObama Foundation commissioned Khan to create a ceiling at theObama Presidential Center in Chicago, featuring hundreds of hand-stamped words fromPresidentBarack Obama’sSelma 50th anniversary speech.[16]
Khan was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2017 Birthday Honours for services to art.[17]
Khan works from a studio inStoke Newington, London he shares with his wife, the British artistAnnie Morris.[18] They have two children.[15]
Khan's work is held in the following permanent collections:
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Purchased with funds contributed by the Photography Committee, 2007
