EHSAN UL

Felix Frachon Gallery is pleased to present the first solo-show of the Pakistani artist Ehsan Ul Haq ( born 1983- Lahore-  Pakistan ) in Belgium: 

« 1 is older than 2: logics of a futile action ».

  The human has always seen himself as the center of existence and all other creatures are meant to serve his purposes. This is seen in the way we conceive our religions and societies and put all other beings at our services. Ehsan Ul Haq’s work is about human being’s existence in the world in relation to its kind and to other living and non-living beings. Ul Haq studies how the human needs to construct the other, models it in a way that enables humanity to then frame itself and survive, leads to exercises of existential, economic, political and social powers.

Ehsan Ul Haq’s work is a meticulous observation and vivid narration or attempt at depicting humanity’s basic characteristics of survival, i.e. the ability to observe, identify, recognize and comprehend. By putting a spotlight not only on the relations between, for example humans and animals, humans  and other humans, but also on the power gradients that make up these relations, Ul Haq reveals the manipulative nature of the human being, embedded in his wish to classify, name, control, and subordinate.

SELECTED SOLOSHOWS AND GROUPSHOWS

Education

2009 Post-Graduation Diploma in Art Education,

School of Visual Arts, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan

2008 Bachelors in Fine Arts, School of Visual Arts, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan

Solo Exhibitions

2017  1 is older than 2: logics of a futile action, Gallery Felix Frachon, Brussels, Belgium

2010 Systems of Organization, Zahoor ul Akhlaq Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan

2009 Life is Elsewhere, Rohtas 2, Lahore, Pakistan.

Selected Exhibitions

2016 Strange Love, collaboration between W8 and Lab 111, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

2016 Back in 5 minutes, Martin Van Zomeren, Amstertdam, Netherlands.

2016 An Age of Our Own Making- On Another Nature and Ecology. Images 2016. Holbaek, Denmark.

2015 No Real Body: 3rd Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Yekaterinburg Russia.

2015 There is Absolutely no Cause for alarm: Independent exhibition part of Unseen Festival Amsterdam.

2015 VOID: there’s nothing more left, but a little trace from human beings!, Ginkgo Space, Beijing

2013 Commissioned Project at Art Dubai, 2013

2013 Extra l Ordinary, Group show Curated by Rashid Rana, Canvas Gallery, Karachi

2012 ‘Under A Tinsel Sun’, 3rd Moscow International Biennale for

Young Art curated by Kathrin Becker, Moscow, Russia

2012 Truth of the Matter, Grey Noise, Dubai, UAE.

2012 New Selections: SOUTH ASIA, Thomas Erben Gallery, New york, NY

2011 In Praise of Red, Royaat Gallery, Lahore

2011 SCORE, Drawing Room Art Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan.

2011 The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Canvas Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan

2010 The Rising Tide, Group show of contemporary art from Pakistan Mohatta Palace Musuem, Karachi, Pakistan

2010 Resemble Reassemble, Group show of Contemporary Art from

Pakistan, curated by Rashid Rana, Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, India

2009 Playground, Group show at Alhamra Art Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan

2009 Through Other Eyes at Herbert, Jordan Well, Coventry, UK.

2007 13 Satellites, Group show at Goethe Institute, Lahore, Pakistan.

Workshops and Residencies:

2016 Pro Helvetia residency, Bern, Switzerland

2014-2015 Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam

2011 Mansion Residency, Lahore

2010 VASL International Artist residency, Karachi

2008 International Artist residency, Lahore

2008 Media as Medium, A collaborative project between The Beaconhouse national

University Lahore and the University of the Arts Berlin, Germany.

2007 13 Satellites, Public Art workshop, Lahore, Pakistan.

Talks and Presentations:

2016 Myth of Artisthood. Talk Between Ehsan Ul Haq and Li Zhenhua, Prohelvetia Zurich, Switzerland.

2016 Not to be an artist, Kunsthøjskolen, Holbaek, Denmark

2015 Physical complexities of an ephemeral work of art, Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2013 Object and art, National College of arts, Lahore, Pakistan

2010 Object and art, Indus valley school of art and architecture, Karachi Pakistan