Faisal Abdu'Allah
Faisal Abdu'Allah (born 1969 in London) is a British artist and barber.[1] His work includes photography, screenprint and installations.
Faisal Abdu'Allah | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1969 |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Willesden High School Harrow School of Art Central St Martins Royal College of Art |
| Occupation(s) | Artist and barber |
| Known for | Painting, illustration |
Life and work
Abdu'Allah was born Paul Duffus in 1969 and grew up in a Pentecostal family. He was educated at Willesden High School, Harrow School of Art, Central St Martins and the Royal College of Art.[2]
In 1991, Abdu'Allah converted to Islam and changed his name. The event was described in the BBC television documentary series The Day That Changed My Life,[3] and formed the subject of the artist's 1992 work Thalatha Haqq (Three Truths).[4] He taught at the University of East London (UEL),[5] formerly North East London Polytechnic. He was a visiting professor at Stanford University[6] and is a member of the Association of Black Photographers.[7]
In the spring of 2013, Abdu'Allah was an artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arts Institute, and in the fall of 2014 he returned to Wisconsin, this time as an assistant professor in the Art Department of the School of Education.[8] He is now an associate professor of art and in 2017, received one of UW–Madison's Romnes Faculty Fellowships.[9]
In his work The Last Supper, eleven men and women sit in Islamic costume around a table, while a figure corresponding to Judas Iscariot stands, concealing a gun behind his back. Silent Witness featured portraits of young black men, with a soundtrack mixing rap, prayer and interviews.[10]
Group exhibitions
- 1993: Borderless Print. Rochdale Art Gallery, Rochdale. With Saleem Arif, Chris Ofili, Donald Rodney, and Maud Suiter.[11]
- 1994: Us an' Dem. The Storey Institute, Lancaster. With Denzil Forrester, and Tam Joseph.[11]
- 1995: Make Believe. Royal College of Art Galleries and other sites around London. In collaboration with Clive Allen.[11]
- 1995: Revelations. Bonington Galleries, Nottingham. With Clive Allen.[11]
- 1995: The Impossible Science of Being: Dialogues between Anthropology and Photography. The Photographers’ Gallery, London. With Zarina Bhimji, and Dave Lewis.[11]
References
- Jo Littler and Roshi Naidoop, The Politics of Heritage: Legacies of Race, Routledge, p. 178. ISBN 978-0-415-32210-2.
- Michael Edmands, Artist who is a cut above, The Guardian, 30 June 2001.
- Thomas Sutcliffe, Review, The Independent, 24 August 1995.
- V&A website
- ,"AVA Staff – Academic Staff".
- "Faisal Abdu'Allah: The Art of Dislocation". Stanford University. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- Elizabeth M. Hallam and Brian V. Street, Cultural Encounters: representing otherness, Routledge, p. 273. ISBN 978-0-415-20279-4.
- "School of Education welcoming new cohort of faculty members for 2014–15". University of Wisconsin-Madison. 27 August 2014. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- Kassulke, Natasha (16 March 2017). "Abdu'Allah among 11 UW-Madison professors to receive Romnes Faculty Fellowships". University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
- Ratnam, Niru (2002). "Abdu'Allah, Faisal". In Alison Donnell (ed.). Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-1-134-70025-7.
- Recordings: A Select Bibliography of Contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British Art. UK: Institute of International Visual Arts and Chelsea College of Art and Design. 1996. pp. 41–44, 49. ISBN 1899846-06-9.