woven nylon rope, beads and string

Artwork date: 2016

(1)

210 x 138 cm x 2 cm

Provenance:

Private collection, Cape Town.

Blank, Cape Town.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Igshaan Adams creates poetic, deeply thoughtful and often abstract works, layered with meaning and informed by an intricate web of social, political, and personal narratives.

The artist was raised in Bonteheuwel, a former segregated area in Cape Town. He is a queer, practicing Muslim, born to Muslim parents but raised by Christian grandparents – who were nevertheless supportive of his faith. Deeply spiritual, Adams has delved into his hybrid identity and the complexities of being – and his engagement with the question of ‘who he is’ has formed the foundation of his practice.

Working across mediums in sculpture, performance, weaving and installation the artist uses a multitude of materials including thread, beads, wire, cloth, seashells and stones to create intricately textural, labour-intensive works. In Sūrah al-Kāfirūn I (part two) he uses string and common nylon rope in blue and with bright flecks of red woven together with transparent beads of different sizes and strings of small plastic pearls. The beads contrast in texture and shimmer against the rope – the material woven and rendered in the blocky patterning of Arabic calligraphy known as square Kufic.

Adams created a number of Sūrah al-Kāfirūn tapestries. An Arabic word, ‘Al-Kafirun’ translates as ‘The Disbelievers’. The 109^th Sūrah (or chapter) of the Quaran it consists of 6 versus, concluding with the phrase “to you your religion and to me mine”. Today, it is often understood as a Sūrah that sets the tone to navigate a world rich in difference with patience and wisdom – and here, the large, delicately woven work, may offer a window into Adams’ own tolerantly multi-faith upbringing and continuous religious journey.

COLLECTOR'S NOTE

• The highest price achieved for the artist’s work at auction is $88 200 for, For Those Who Know, in New York in 2021.
• In 2018, Igshaan Adams was the recipient of the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Art which culminated in, When Dust Settles ­– a solo exhibition that travelled throughout South Africa, including to the Iziko South African National Gallery.
• Major institutional solo exhibitions include Lynloop (2024) at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Igshaan Adams: Desire Lines (2022) at The Art Institute of Chicago; Kicking Dust (2021-2022) at Hayward Gallery in London and the Kunsthalle Zürich In Switzerland; Getuie (2020) at SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, U.S.A and Igshaan Adams: I Am No More (2019) at Akershus Kunstsenter in Norway.
• Important international group exhibitions include, Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art (2024) at the Barbican Centre, London; Soft Power (2018) at Transpalette in Bourges, France and In This Imperfect Present Moment (2018-19) at the Seattle Art Museum.
• Currently, Adams is included in Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstractions, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, on show until 28 July 2024.
• A solo exhibition, Forthcoming: Igshaan Adams: Weerhoud will open at The Hepworth Wakefield, U.K on the 22 June 2024.
• Adams has been included in important biennales, including Choreographies of the Impossible, the São Paulo Biennale (2023); Awwal Bayt, the Islamic Arts Biennale (2023) in Jeddah and The Milk of Dreams (2022) at the Venice Biennale.
• Artist residencies include the Atelier residency at Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, A4 Arts Foundation in Cape Town, the Sommerakademie im Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, and the IAAB Pro Helvetia residency in Basel.

COLLECTIONS:

The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notably, the Guggenheim Museum, New York; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; The Art Institute of Chicago; Baltimore Museum of Art; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Minneapolis Institute of Art and the University of Cape Town Art Collection.