Bio Noor Ali Chagani (b.1982 Karachi, Pakistan), is a UK-based artist who graduated from the National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore, Pakistan, in 2008.
His recent solo exhibitions include 'The Story of an Outsider' at Wardown Museum, Luton, UK (2023), 'How Little I Understand About Me' at Canvas Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan (2021), 'Grey Spaces' at Koel Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan (2018), and 'House of Bricks' at Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA (2016). Recent group exhibitions include 'Miniature 2.0: Miniature in Contemporary Art' at Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey (2020), 'Self-Portraits in the Age of the SELFIE' at COMO Museum of Art, Pakistan (2019), 'Delhi Contemporary Art Week' at LATITUDE segment, New Delhi, India (2019), 'Cartography of Narratives' at Latitude 28, New Delhi, India (2019), and 'Artissima' Art Fair in Italy (2021).
In addition, he has received several awards, including the Jameel Prize Residency at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2016). In 2018, Modern Painters Magazine New York featured him in 'Top Emerging Artists to Watch in 2018'. Most recently, Chagani was honored with The Arts Family (TAF) London Emerging Artist Award - South Asia 2024.
Artist Statement | I, too, am a part of this history
I am creating jewellery and armour out of clay. This is in line with my interest in using bricks to produce something soft and delicate and it also resonates with the weight that men carry, the heavy responsibility of providing a home for their family from the day they are born. But I also think that the use of bricks to produce something precious can be a thoughtful comment on society. On the one hand, I am producing something precious out of something simple and humble. But it’s also about giving bricks the status and importance it used to have.
Artist Statement | Legacies of Crossings
Walls, Pillars, Barriers covered in graffiti, posters, political messages and personal notes are essential elements of urban life in
metropolitan cities today. The material on them that is pasted, plastered, painted, added, removed or that weathers away with
time depicts a tapestry of diverse voices carries the makers' creativity and can be considered a precursor for societal discourse
on everything from land ownership, class disparity, crime, desire, anxiety and ethno religious tensions. I perceive them as
carriers of such conflicts. To me these wall chalkings are the organic architecture of the city.