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Drawing inspiration from sources including the history of art and music as well as key philosophical and theological texts, Idris Khan is widely acclaimed for works that investigate memory, creativity and the layering of experience. Comprising a series of panels painted in jewel-like hues embellished with gold leaf, this presentation continues the artist’s ongoing exploration of colour, repetition and the spiritual potential of abstraction, with particular reference to the rich traditions of Islamic culture. Through many years of study, Khan has developed his exploration of colour to evoke both emotional immediacy and contemplative stillness by building layers of pigment. The colour acts as a psychological and spatial field – expansive, immersive and affecting. In these new works, each panel is carefully inscribed with layers of musical notation or Arabic text, applied by hand using gold leaf. These inscriptions, often poetic or meditative, are overlaid repeatedly until only their edges remain legible. In this process, language folds in on itself and meaning dissolves into form. The use of gold leaf carries particular historical and symbolic significance, directly referencing the Blue Qur’an, a medieval Islamic manuscript renowned for its indigo-dyed parchment and gold Kufic script. Khan draws on this tradition not only in terms of materials and colour palette but also its deeper metaphysical implications, where sacred geometry, colour and language converge in devotional art. As in earlier works, these new panels reflect Khan’s interest in the layering of time and experience – what he describes as the ‘collapse of time into a single moment.’ The repeated inscriptions evoke acts of devotion, memory and ritual. The act of layering reflects thought, meditation and the passage of time, with each work serving as a visual prayer. Idris Khan Time Present, Time Past (Azrag III), 2025 Oil based ink and 23ct gold leaf on gesso, on aluminium 90 x 56 cm 35 3/8 x 22 in © Idris Khan Courtesy the artist, Sean Kelly and Victoria Miro Collectively, the panels create an environment that is at once intimate and monumental. They evoke walls, thresholds, or portals – architectural in scale and yet deeply human in tone. This presentation encourages viewers to slow down, reflect and engage with a space where time feels suspended and meaning emerges not from isolated phrases but from accumulated impressions. The works blur the boundaries between abstraction and figuration, as well as between the personal and the universal, and between East and West. They offer a powerful expression of Khan’s dual heritage and his ongoing commitment to a universal visual language rooted in repetition, history and spiritual exploration.

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ABOUT ARTISTS : Idris Khan

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Born in Birmingham, UK, in 1978, Idris Khan completed a master’s degree at the Royal College of Art and lives and works in London. He was appointed OBE for services to Art in the Queen’s Birthday 2017 Honours List. Khan’s first career survey exhibition in the United States, Idris Khan: Repeat After Me, was held at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA, in 2024. Further survey exhibitions include Idris Khan: A World Within, held at The New Art Gallery Walsall in 2017, with solo presentations of the artist’s work previously staged at national and international institutional venues including the British Museum, London, UK (2018); Whitworth Gallery, University of Manchester, UK (2016–17, 2012); Sadler’s Wells, London, UK (2011); Gothenburg Konsthall, Sweden (2011); Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, Canada (2010); Kunsthaus Murz, Mürzzuschlag, Austria (2010) and K20, Düsseldorf, Germany (2008). The artist has received numerous high-profile public commissions internationally. Most recently, Khan has been invited by the Obama Foundation to create new work for the Obama Presidential Center, opening in Chicago in spring 2026. Khan joins the latest group of ten international artists announced as part of the Center’s historic campus-wide art programme. A major sculpture for London, commissioned by St George’s Plc with London Borough of Southwark as part of the development of One Blackfriars, was unveiled in autumn 2019. In 2016, Khan was commissioned to make a permanent public monument, forming the centrepiece of the new Memorial Park in Abu Dhabi, which was unveiled on the UAE Commemoration Day. In 2017, it received an American Architecture Prize, a World Architecture News Award and a German Design Award. Further commissions include a wall drawing commissioned by the British Museum in 2012 for its exhibition Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam. In addition, for the duration of the exhibition, Khan’s monumental floor installation, Seven Times, was installed in the museum’s Great Court. Also in 2012, The New York Times Magazine commissioned Khan to create a new body of work for its London issue. Focusing on the capital’s most iconic buildings and structures, Khan’s image of the London Eye featured on the cover. Created in 2018 for The Albukhary Foundation Islamic Gallery, Khan's 21 Stones was the British Museum's first site-specific artwork. Khan has also worked on significant collaborations across art forms. In 2014 he worked with choreographer Wayne McGregor and composer Max Richter on Richter’s recomposition of The Four Seasons, producing sets for the production which premiered at Zurich Opera House. Lying in Wait, 2009, a collaboration by Khan and choreographer Sarah Warsop in association with Victoria Miro and Siobhan Davies Dance, is formed of layered movement that travels between three screens. A solo exhibition of new work by the artist will take place at Victoria Miro, London, in summer 2026.

Art Basel Qatar is Art Basel's fifth premier event and our newest show, running February 5-7, 2026 in Doha. Anchored in a dynamic long-term partnership with Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) and QC+, Art Basel Qatar will debut as a concisely curated showcase celebrating Qatar’s vibrant cultural landscape and the dynamic arts ecosystem of the MENA region. The inaugural edition of Art Basel Qatar will be held at M7, a creative hub in the heart of Doha, as well as at the Doha Design District in downtown Msheireb.

mpefm QATAR fair art press release