Idris Khan Gets Inspired By Love, Loss And Memory

Idris Khan is one of the world’s leading contemporary artists. He, along with his wife and fellow sculptor Annie Morris, is showcasing his work for the first time in India. The exhibition will be titled Re-Imaginings and it will feature all the work that the couple has done over the last couple of years where they have dealt with the concept of loss and interpreted it in their own way. While Morris’ stack sculptures in vibrant hues symbolise the concept of circle of life, Idris Khan has recreated texts from various sources by printing and overlaying them on canvas and glass.

In Re-Imaginings, the couple has showcased works that stemmed from their loss of loved ones. The process started in the year 2006 when Annie lost her child and Idris Khan’s mother passed away. While Annie started building circular shapes that now form her sculpture, Idris began using writings and stamped them on canvas to create paintings. Annie says, “Misery can really make you work a lot harder. During that phase, those shapes became symbols of fertility, life, and death. Eventually, they progressed into different things. Being an artist allows you to have a great degree of escapism.”

Idris, on his part, elaborates, “I was doing stamp paintings to move away from the grief. The whole process of stamping was therapeutic. So, we were two artists going through a shared experience but reacting to it in different ways.” While Annie uses fresh, pigmented colours for her sculptures that appear to be suspended in mid-air, Idris’ paintings have a certain fragility as they have been displayed on glass. The London-based couple, who work from adjacent studios in the UK capital, are keen to live in India for a few years. “India is my favourite country in the world. As an artist, you need to move away from familiar surroundings and explore newer places to give novel definition to your works,” signs off Annie.