Imran Qureshi currently has an installation in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden at the Metropolitan Museum rooftop. The project is called The Roof Garden Commission: Imran Qureshi,and the site-specific piece is titled And How Many Rains Must Fall before the Stains Are WashedClean. Utilizing the 8,000-square-foot rooftop, Qureshi used red acrylic paint to splatter and swirl patterns of ornate flowers to represent his feelings about the atrocities of war, violence, and man-made disasters around the world—all mimicking the plant life around the museum in Central Park.
Imran Qureshi's art is deeply political and in part a response to events in his home country, Pakistan. In a quote from the artist about the exhibition, he said: “The dialogue between life and death is an important element in my work. Leaves and nature, for example, represent the idea of life. And the particular color of red that I have been using in recent years can look so real, like blood. The red reminds me of the situation today in my country, Pakistan, and in the world around us, where violence is almost a daily occurrence. But somehow, people still have hope. The flowers that seem to emerge from the red paint in my work represent the hope that—despite everything—the people sustain somehow, their hope for a better future.”
The Roof Garden Commission: Imran Qureshi is open now through November 3.
[via MetMuseum]
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