FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATES: February 1 – March 31, 2018
Openings: First Thursday, Feb 1, 5-8pm and First Thursday, March 1, 5-8pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, March 3, 1-3pm
LOCATION: ArtXchange Gallery, 512 First Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
HOURS: Tuesday – Saturday, 11 AM – 5:30 PM,
First Thursdays until 8 PM
PHONE: 206-839-0377
WEB ADDRESS: www.artxchange.org
GENERAL EMAIL: info@artxchange.org
Left: My Shame II, pine wood, red stain, wire, epoxy putty, paint, 17″ x 16.5″
Artist Humaira Abid continues her mission to
create a public voice for the vulnerable
(Seattle, WA – January 20, 2018) Concurrent with Humaira Abid’s critically acclaimed museum exhibition, Searching for Home at Bellevue Arts Museum, ArtXchange Gallery presents My Shame. Opening First Thursday, February 1, 5-8pm, Abid’s second gallery solo exhibition in Seattle presents carved wood sculptures, often incorporating elements of miniature painting and installation, examining the stigma that women feel over natural, social and cultural issues. The power and politics in women’s lives are brought into focus through Abid’s global lens as an artist working between the United States and Pakistan.
Humaira Abid is known for her bold, symbolically rich and precisely realized wood sculptures and miniature paintings. Symbols from her personal experiences – a pair of scissors, a hand mirror, a man’s tie – become metaphors for current events and everyday objects resonate with meanings of love, loss and resistance. Through her work, Abid pushes the boundaries acceptable for women within Pakistan, while challenging stereotypes and preconceptions about Muslim women and Pakistani culture as her work is exhibited on the global stage.
In My Shame, Abid turns her topic towards the shaming of women’s bodies and identities. Referencing a range of topics including menstruation to the ‘sexy eyes’ laws in Saudi Arabia (in which women were legally required to fully cover their eyes if deemed too attractive), Abid continues to create work that attracts viewers with its technical prowess, while provoking strong emotional reactions. By challenging taboos and stereotypes that are rarely addressed in public, Abid aims to normalize them through dialogue and discussion.
Humaira Abid (b. 1977, Rawalpindi, Pakistan) spent her formative years in Lahore. Challenging the artistic media seen as traditional for women, Abid studied Sculpture and miniature painting at the National College of the Arts in Lahore and graduated with honors in 2000. She has been reviewed in numerous publications, as well as the subject of multiple documentaries including the NW Emmy nominated ‘Heartwood’. Her work has been exhibited internationally, in galleries and museums including Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Mauritius, Nepal, Kenya, Dubai, Bolivia, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States. My Shame is Abid’s second solo exhibition at ArtXchange Gallery, following 2011’s acclaimed RED exhibition.
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