Tariq Alvi

Born, 1965 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Tariq Alvi is a British artist who divides his time between London and the Netherlands. He had his first UK solo exhibition, at Whitechapel Art Gallery, 12 January - 4 March 2001.

From the catalogue’s Foreword (written by the Whitechapel director Catherine Lampert and the Whitechapel Curator Andrea Tarsia): “The rather grand, day-lit spaces of the Whitechapel have posed a challenge to Alvi: how to present work tha has already lived in private spaces, in bed-sits and corridors, above fireplaces and wedged between cracks. Whereas the relaxed, non-conformist mood generated by Whitechapel’s visitors, and the chaos of the High Street, appeals to a generation of artists that operate outside commercial and marketing constraints. We are delighted that Tariq has responded to the challenge of his first solo exhibition in the UK with such energy and enthusiasm. He has engaged the attention and the imagination of all here at the Whitechapel.”

The catalogue also contained a major text on Alvi by Jean Fisher, which included: “Alvi’s idiosyncratic manipulation of images, the massing and proliferation of material to near-saturation point, often on the edge of sliding out of control, are acts whose very uncontainability threaten the forces of law and order.”

»  Tariq Alvi - Whitechapel

Catalogue relating to an exhibition, 2001