Love, loss and memory: Things that inspire artist Idris Khan

Idris Khan, one of the leading contemporary artists in the world, is showcasing his works in India for the first time with his wife and fellow sculptor Annie Morris. Titled Re-Imaginings, the exhibition features the couple’s creations over the last few years where they have dealt with the concept of loss and interpreted it in their own way. While Morris’ stack sculptures in vibrant hues symbolise the concept of circle of life, Khan has recreated texts from various sources by printing and overlaying them on canvas and glass.

Fascination for art

Idris, who was born to a surgeon father and a nurse mother, wanted to become an athlete till the age of 18 before he discovered his penchant for photography. The 39-year-old says, “Photography was the first medium that allowed me to translate my ideas into making art.” He finally realised art was his true calling when collector Charles Saatchi bought one of his creations. This inspired Idris to start working at the Victoria Miro Gallery in London. It was only when he met Annie three years later that he veered towards painting and sculpture.

The artist has been feted for scanning or stamping excerpts from literary works as well as pages from the Quran and layering them with gesso paints. The end effect is such that from a distance, the art works seem as if colour has been splashed on them. But on closer inspection, one can read the first few and last words. Since pigments are intensified in the centre, the sentences are open to interpretations by allowing viewers to decipher their own meaning. He explains, “I stopped practising religious rituals at the age of 14, but what holds of it is the idea of repetition, a cathartic way of overlaying and stamping away memories. I like the fact that I can draw from experience. In my works, it’s about the energy and repetition that brings you to something else.” 

Shared experiences, myriad interpretations

In Re-Imaginings, the couple has showcased works that stemmed from their loss of loved ones. The process started in the year 2006 when Annie lost her child and Idris’ mother passed away. While Annie started building circular shapes that now form her sculpture, Idris began using writings and stamped them on canvas to create paintings. Annie says, “Misery can really make you work a lot harder. During that phase, those shapes became symbols of fertility, life, and death. Eventually, they progressed into different things. Being an artist allows you to have a great degree of escapism.”

Idris, on his part, elaborates, “I was doing stamp paintings to move away from the grief. The whole process of stamping was therapeutic. So, we were two artists going through a shared experience but reacting to it in different ways.” While Annie uses fresh, pigmented colours for her sculptures that appear to be suspended in mid-air, Idris’ paintings have a certain fragility as they have been displayed on glass. The London-based couple, who work from adjacent studios in the UK capital, are keen to live in India for a few years. “India is my favourite country in the world. As an artist, you need to move away from familiar surroundings and explore newer places to give novel definition to your works,” signs off Annie. 

Re-Imaginings is on at Galerie Isa, Fort, till January 24, 2018.