Jamali (born 1944) Pakistani/American, Large Modern Expressionist Mixed Media on Panel. A figure in center can be distinguished among the deep rich green, black, and red tones. Label on back with name and #7978. Author letter with instructions on receiving a Certificate of Authenticity in pouch on back. 

Overall Size: 61 1/2 x 47 1/4 in. 

Sight Size: 53 1/2 x 38 1/2 in. 

#9025  

Jamali (born Aqdas Hussain Khan) is an American avant-garde artist. He was born on April 12th, 1944 in Peshawar, Pakistan, and purportedly his family adopted the surname Jamali when a wise man prophesied that they would prosper under it instead of their old name. He attended the Cadet College Hasan Abdal, but left as it began to serve more and more as a feeder institution for the Pakistani military. After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Jamali made a pilgrimage to Tirich Mir and then traveled throughout Europe, seeking enlightenment and inner peace due to his conflicting views on politics and religion. A devout Sufi Muslim, his spirituality was his earliest influence when he began his foray into art. While in Paris he met a group of American art students studying abroad and decided to apply to the University of Central Florida to study Fine Art. Jamali moved to America in 1970 to attend the university on a student visa, going simply by that mononym from then on and remaining in the United States ever since. His first works were primarily in pastel on paper, and after an early successful exhibition he branched out to explore cork, egg tempera, and bronze, as well as other mediums besides painting. Today he is considered a prominent modern expressionist who owns and operates several contemporary art galleries in New York and Florida that bear his name. His artistic style was termed “Mystical Expressionism” by art critic and historian Donald Kuspit, recognizable by his unique organic textures, experimental techniques, and figurative paintings of women with spiritual motifs and religious undertones. He published two volumes of his work in the 1990s, as well as an autobiography in 2023. Jamali’s flagship operation is Jamali Fine Art in Winter Park, Florida, with his largest gallery space and personal studio. His other locations are in Fort Lauderdale and in the SoHo district of New York City, although the New York Gallery was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022 and is unlikely to reopen.