Mulji, Huma | Critical Distance Centre for Curators

Huma Mulji

Huma Mulji works with sculpture, photography, drawing, and painting, creating material juxtapositions which are attentive to the absurd, and question notions of certainty, and truth. Her works broadly address notions of failure and neglect, endurance and transformation. The deliberately awkward artworks are spatially evocative, and imbue an anti-heroism, playing out ironically, in her works.

Mulji’s participation in recent exhibitions includes Witness, Karachi Biennale 2017, “A country of Last Things” (solo), Koel Gallery, Karachi, 2016, “The Great Game”, Irani Pavillion, Venice Biennale, 2015, “Burning Down the House”, 10th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea, 2014, “Extra|Ordinary”, Dubai, 2013, “Twilight”, a solo show at Project 88, Mumbai, India, 2011, “The Rising Tide”, Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi, 2010, “Where three Dreams Cross”. Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK, 2010, “Crystal Palace and Other Follies” (solo), Rohtas Gallery Lahore, 2010, “The Empire Strikes Back”, The Saatchi Gallery, 2010 and “Hanging Fire: Contemporary Art from Pakistan, at Asia Society, NY, 2009. Mulji was a recipient of the Abraaj Group Art Prize 2013.

She currently lives in Bristol, UK and is Lecturer, BA Hons. Fine Art, at Plymouth College of Art.

EXHIBITION: We Look at Animals Because

January 25, 2018 - March 25, 2018

Critical Distance is pleased to present We Look at Animals Because, an exhibition that gazes on animality. Presented in partnership with South Asian Visual Arts Centre (SAVAC), the exhibition features works by Quratulain Butt, Khaled Hourani, Maha Maamoun, Smriti Mehra, Huma Mulji, Ed Panar, Alex Sheriff, and Andrea Luka Zimmerman, and curated by Toleen Touq and Nahed Mansour.

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Gallery

Arabian Delight, 2008, Rexine suitcase, taxidermy camel, metal rods, cotton wool and fabric, 41.5" (H) x 57" x 61" (105 cm x 144cm x 155cm). Installation documentation by David C. Alesworth.

Lost and Found, 2012, Buffalo hide on fiberglass and mixed media, 45" x 15" 76" (114 cm x 38 cm x 193 cm). Installation view, Gwangju Biennale, 2014. Documentation by Stefan Altenburger.

Ode to a Tubelight, 2011, mixed media, silicon lizards, and enamel paint on canvas, 72" x 84" (183 cm x 213 cm). Documentation by the artist.

Summer Afternoons Bedroom, Kitchen, Lounge, 2010, laser cut acrylic sheet, steel, adhesives, 48” x 96” x 1.5 " (122 cm x 244 cm x 4 cm ).

Ode to Lamppost that got accidentally destroyed in the enthusiastic widening of Canal Bank Road, 2017, welded metal pipes, steel brackets, electric cables, LED lights, electronic timing circuit, insulators and mixed media, dimensions varialbe. Documentation by the artist.

Heavenly Heights, 2009, taxidermy Buffalo, welded steel, powder coated cteel, ceramic insulators and electric cable, 171” x 74” x 118” (434.3 cm x 188 cm x 300 cm). Documentation by the artist.

Housing Scheme, 2008, C Type print, 40" x 60" (102 cm x 153 cm). Documentation by the artist.

Study of Equilibrium (detail), 2015, suite of 21 works Archival inkjet prints on Hahnemühle Photorag, acrylic paint and etched metal, 14 in x 11 in each ( 35 cm x 28 cm), variable ed 3 + 1 ap. Documentation by the artist.

The Flight, 2014-2016, plastic chair, taxidermy Sparrow, mixed media, approx. 35" h x 14" x 32" (89 cm x 35 cm x 82 cm). Documentation by the Artist.