RAFAAT ISHAK

Working across painting, installation and site-specific drawing, Raafat Ishak’s practice is informed by architecture and his Arabic cultural heritage. Using a formal but understated graphic language, where distinctive lines enclose curved, square or rectangular shapes that have been slowly built up in pastel shades on un-primed canvas or MDF. Ishak seamlessly mixes the personal with the political in a way that highlights the circularity and interdependency of these relationships. Underscored by a utopian, romantic tendency, his work is subtle, contemplative and alive to the nuances of cross-cultural dialogue and transit.

Select solo exhibitions: Chicken River, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, 2018; Withdrawal Courtesies, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2018; 1977, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2017; Apnea, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2015; Nomination for the presidency of the new Egypt, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2012; Proposition for a banner march and a black cube hot air balloon, with Tom Nicholson, Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, 2012; Art Dubai, with Sutton Gallery, United Arab Emirates, 2011; Raafat Ishak: Work in Progress, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2010.

Select group exhibitions: Overdrawn, Nanyang Academy of Arts, Singapore, Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Melbourne, 2018; Monochrome, Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Melbourne, 2018; Call of the Avant-Garde: Constructivism and Australian Art, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2017; Borders Barriers Walls, MUMA, Melbourne, 2016; Painting, More Painting, ACCA, Melbourne, 2016; Home Ground, Agha Khan Museum, Toronto, 2015; Terms & Conditions, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, 2013; Shifting Geometries, Embassy of Australia, Washington DC, 2012 (1).

(1) https://suttongallery.com.au/artists/raafat-ishak/biography/

1 product
  • SOLD