Owais Husain


Owais Husain is a multi-media artist, painter and filmmaker.

Biography

Owais Husain was born in Mumbai, India, in 1967. The son of M. F. Husain and Fazila, he has two sisters, Raisa and Aqueela, and two brothers, Mustafa and Shamshad.
Husain graduated in Fine Arts from the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art in 1990. He currently resides and works in Dubai and Mumbai.

Work

Owais Husain is a multi-media artist whose works have been shown in both group exhibitions and solo shows. He has also worked as a Producer, Director and Writer for film and music.

International multi-media artist.

As an artist who has been active since the late 80s, he has explored numerous mediums through study and his produced pieces. Husain has used a range of mediums, including: poetry, painting, watercolor and sculpture, in his varied works.
Most recently, he has combined multiple mediums into installations and more diversely textured works.
Husain is an international artist, having studied in Mumbai and Bhopal in India, and New York, USA. His works have been shown in art capitals around the world, such as London, New Delhi, New York, and Dubai. Husain’s recent works have been shown at the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore and in PUBLICA 2016, an outdoor sculpture exhibition in New Delhi organised by the Floodlight Foundation.
Themes of identity, iconography and mythology.
Owais Husain is known as an Indian contemporary artist. His works explore a range of themes, namely: iconography, urban mythology, identity and culture. Many of his works have been influenced by his Indian heritage, from traditional form and subjects, yet equally his work is differentiated and not wholly based on traditional Indian art.

Solo exhibitions

2016 Owais Husain: House of Cards. A Collaboration with the students of the LASALLE College of the Arts, Faculties of Fine Arts and Media Arts, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, Praxis Space and Project Space
2015 Heart of Silence, Capsule Arts, Dubai
2014 My Body, A Fleet of Ships, W. Foundation, Seoul
2013 Forest of Lost Languages, Burj Khalifa, Dubai
2010 3 Worlds, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2006 Forest of Lost Languages, Aicon Gallery, New York
2000 Owais Husain: New Works, Gallery 88, Calcutta
1998 The Present is the Source of Presences, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
1997 The Present is the Source of Presences, Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai
1995 Owais Husain: Recent Works, Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai
1994 Owais Husain: Paintings and Drawings, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
1992 Cities and Sky, Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology Campus, Ahmedabad
1989 That Obscure Object of Desire, Triveni Gallery, New Delhi
1987 Photographic installation on North/Central India, Festival of India in Moscow and St Petersburg
1986 The Sea that Found a Tree, Site specific installation, Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai

Group exhibitions

2016 PUBLICA 2016, outdoor public sculpture installations sponsored by the Floodlight Foundation, New Delhi
2011 Contemporary Art, Dunia Media City Financial Centre, Dubai
2010 Owais/Tassaduq, Unicorn Gallery, Karachi
2008 Keep Drawing, Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2007 Double Take, Gallery Espace, New Delhi, Indian Art III/III, curated by Nancy Adajania, Vadehra Grosvenor Gallery, London
2004 Husain & Sons, Aicon Gallery, New York
2003 A Celebration of Colour, organized by Vadhera Gallery, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
2001 Century City, curated by Geeta Kapur and Ashish Rajadhyaksha, Tate Modern, London, Excerpts from My Diary Pages, The Fine Art Company, Mumbai
2000 Erotica, The Fine Art Company, Mumbai
1999 Wallpaper, Kala-Ghoda Festival, Kala-Goda pavements, Mumbai
Legatee: Exhibition of The JJ School Alumni, Fine Art Company, Mumbai
Icons, organized by Lakeeren Gallery, Sir JJ School of Applied Arts, Mumbai
Contemporary Indian Artists Today, organized by Vadehra Art Gallery, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1998 Wilberding Collection of Contemporary Indian Art, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai
Generations: Indian Contemporary Art from Jamini Roy to the Present, A Gallery, New York
1997 Indian Contemporary Art – Post Independence, organized by Vadehra Art Gallery, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
A Gift for India, organized by SAHMAT, LKA Galleries, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi
The Looking Glass Self, Lakeeren Gallery, Mumbai
1996 Cinema Scape: An Artist’s Tribute to 100 Years of Cinema, Lakeeren Art Gallery, Mumbai
1995 A Tree in my Life, organized by The Village Art Gallery, Academy of Fine Arts and Literature, New Delhi
1993 Four Young Contemporaries, curated by Rekha Rodwittya, Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai, and Sakshi Art Gallery, Bangelore

Projects, film and music

2016 House of Cards, a three-day workshop with the International Institute of Fine Arts, Modi Nagar, India
2015 House of Cards, a three-day workshop and collaborative sculpture project with LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
A Paper House For My Vocabulary, collaborative light and paper installation with 250 school children, King’s School, Dubai
2010 Producer and Director, Letters to My Son About My Father, Documentary on the life and times of M.F.Husain, draft version screened at the Tribeca International Film Festival, Doha, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London
2009 Producer, Flight, experimental music track,, The Festival of Thinkers, Abu Dhabi
2007 Director, Ek Mohabbat, short film on an anthem by A.R.Rahman, Seven Wonders of The World International Campaign
2004 Writer and co-director, Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities, , score and soundtrack by A.R. Rahman, screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival and Filmfest Düsseldorf
2000 Associate Director, Gaja Gamini,, screened at the London International Film Festival, Berlin Film Biennale, and Marché du Film section, Cannes Film Festival