Mahwish Chishty

Initially trained as a miniature painter from the National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan, Mahwish Chishty has aggressively combined new media and conceptual work with her traditional practice. Chishty has exhibited her work nationally and internationally at venues like University of Technology (UTS Gallery) Sydney, Australia; Boghossian Foundation– Villa Empain. Brussels; Utah Museum of Contemporary Art; Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MOCADA), Brooklyn, NY; Imperial War Museum, London, UK and Gandhara Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan among others. By camouflaging modern war machines with folk imagery, Chishty is shedding light on the complexity of acculturation, politics and power. 

Chishty has been awarded several residencies including Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY ; Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL; and Vermont Studio Center, Vermont, NY. Ms. Chishty also has works in public and private collections including the Foreign office Islamabad, Pakistan, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka Shi, Japan and Imperial War Museum, London.

Chishty is also a recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship.

Selected Solo/ Two-person Exhibitions

Dec 2018 Gentle War curated by Brian Curtin, Gallery OED Cochi, India

Sep 2018            Naming the Dead for ArtPrize at The Ruse Escape Rooms, Grand Rapids, MI 

Jan 2018             Naming the Dead at Spaces, Cleveland, OH

Sep 2017           You are Now Leaving the United States of America at Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Groove, IL

Oct 2016           IWM Contemporary: Mahwish Chishty. Curated by Sara Bevan. Imperial War Museum, London
 

Selected Group Exhibitions

Aug 2019 1 Roof 2 Airs curated by Katayoun Amjadi and John Schuerman at South Dakota Museum of Art, Brookings, SD (forthcoming)

Jul 2019 E-Pluribus: Reflection on 9/11 at The Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, Oberlin, OH 

Mar 2019 Perilous Bodies curated by Jaishri Abichandani and Natasha Becker at The Center for the Social Justice at Ford Foundation, NYC

Dec 2018 Since time immemorial at Galley ORD Cochin, Kerala, India

Nov 2018 Dis-illusions curated by Zahra Mitra at OED gallery, Kochi, Kerala, India

Oct 2017             Age of Terror: Art Since 9/11, Imperial War Museum, London, UK

Sep 2017            E PLURIBUS: Reflections on 9/11 at Kent State University art galleries, Kent, OH

Aug 2017           Heavy Metal curated by Theresa Bembnister at Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH

Apr 2017             Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) Auction Gala exhibition curated by Jefferson Pinder, Washington, D.C.

Jan 2017              Rayguns, Robots, Drones: Technology's Peril and Promisecurated by Courtney Gilbert. Sun Valley Arts Center, ID
 

Dec 2016             E PLURIBUS: REFLECTIONS ON 9/11 at Silent Funny, Chicago, IL

Sep 2016            E Pluribus -- Reflections on the Fifteenth Anniversary of 9/11 curated by Barbara Koenen. UNUM, Chicago, IL

Jun 2016              Remote Connections at The Arrowhead Room gallery, curated by Cecilia Vargas. Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, IL

Feb 2016             This is Our War, in conjunction with Maplewood High School, Vanderbilt University and The Smithsonian American Art Museum at Red Arrow Gallery, Nashville, TN

Nov 2015             Red Arrow Retrospective & 2016 Preview at OZ Arts Nashville, curated by Katie Shaw, Nashville, TN

Aug 2015             Crossfire: Collaborative works by Khadim Ali, Sher Ali & Mahwish Chishty at Gandhara Art gallery, Karachi, Pakistan

Jun 2015              Hybrid's Paradise at Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL

Mar 2015             From Heaven to Hell. Magic carpets and drones at Boghossian Foundation– Villa Empain. Brussels

Mar 2015             Sensor, FotoFest at Silver Street Studios. Houston, TX

Mar 2015             Security in Our Society: What Remains of Our Personal Freedoms? at Art Souterrain, Montreal, Canada

Feb 2015              Panopticon, Main gallery at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, Utah

Jan 2015               Border Cultures: Part 3 (Security, surveillance) at Art Gallery of Windsor. Ontario, Canada

Apr 2019 Outstanding Research and Scholarship Award, Kent State University, OH

Mar 2019 Ohio Arts Council Individual Awards, Columbus, OH

Feb 2019 The New Agency by MOCA Cleveland, OH

Apr 2018              President's Excellence Award, Kent State University, Kent, OH

Apr 2018              Recipient of Stoneleaf Retreat, Upstate New York

Dec 2017               Invitational artist residency, Spaces World Artists Program (SWAP), Cleveland, OH

Nov 2017               Nominated for distinguished achievement in research faculty award, Kent State University, Kent, OH

Oct 2017                Nominated for Makers Muse Award, Kindle Project, NM

Apr 2017                Recipient of Guggenheim fellowship

Jun 2017                Recipient of Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE

Jun 2015                Recipient of Yaddo residency

Nov 2015               Recipient of Vermont Studio Center residency

Nov 2014               Artist in residence at Chicago Cultural Center residency and grant supported by The Joyce Foundation

Jan 2011                Recipient of residency at Montgomery College, Takoma Park/ Silver Spring, MD                
Jan 2004                National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan: Haji Sharif Award (Excellence in Miniature Painting) and Shakir Ali/Kipling Award (Highest Merit Award)