Idris Khan Art for Sale: Prints & Originals

Idris Khan was born in Birmingham in 1978. His early interest in art and photography laid the foundation for his future career. Khan studied photography at the University of Derby before completing his Master's degree at the Royal College of Art in London in 2004, where he graduated with distinction in Research.

Khan's artistic language began to take shape during his time at the Royal College of Art. It was here that he developed his signature technique of layering multiple images to create complex, abstract compositions. This approach would become the hallmark of his work.

After his graduation, Khan's innovative use of digital technology to create densely layered imagery established his position as an emerging voice in the British Contemporary Art scene.

Khan's career has been marked by a series of exhibitions and commissions that have boosted his prominence in the Contemporary Art world. Commissioned by the New York Times Magazine, in 2012, Khan produced Houses Of Parliament, a digital silver bromide print depicting the iconic landmark from a variety of angles. In this work, Khan digitally layered images of the iconic landmark, creating a translucent, busy composition which evokes the swarming atmosphere of the city and weighty history of the building.

In 2017, Khan was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to art, a testament to his contributions to the British cultural landscape. This recognition came after several high-profile exhibitions, including a solo show at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester in 2016.

Khan's work has been exhibited in prestigious institutions worldwide, including the British Museum in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, Florida. His ability to work across various media, from photography and sculpture to large-scale public installations, has allowed him to push the boundaries of Contemporary Art.

Khan's print series Every... Bernd & Hilla Becher (2004) epitomises his use of layering techniques to interrogate time, memory, and repetition. By digitally superimposing the Bechers' typologies of industrial structures, Khan transforms documentary photography into complex, composite images. His work, such as Every... Bernd and Hilla Becher Spherical Type Gasholders, distills time into a single frame, inviting viewers to reflect on the passage of time and the role of memory in shaping perception. This approach is integral to Khan's broader practice, which often explores the accumulation of visual information and its impact on how we interpret the world.
A key element in Khan's practice is his use of layering to explore memory, time, and experience. This technique, evident in many of his works, involves the digital layering of scans or photographs to create dense, abstract compositions that often blur the line between abstraction and representation. By combining visual and cultural references from a range of sources such as classical music and religious texts, Khan invites viewers to consider how personal and collective histories accumulate over time, shaping individual perceptions.
In addition to his photographic and printmaking work, Khan has gained recognition for his large-scale sculptural and architectural commissions. Notably, Khan's Wahat Al Karama in Abu Dhabi, a war memorial park, merges his interest in repetition with physical space, using steel slabs to commemorate the lives of fallen soldiers. His ability to transition between two-dimensional and three-dimensional media demonstrates his versatility and deep engagement with themes of memory, history, and cultural identity.