About

Bio

Danish Quapoor (born 1989, Ipswich, QLD) is a multidisciplinary artist currently based on Gurambilbarra Wulgurukaba and Bindal land (Townsville, QLD, Australia). Growing up relatively sheltered in rural and regional Queensland, and in contrast to the preoccupations of his family and many peers, Quapoor immersed himself in the arts from an early age. Balancing this dichotomy has been a consistent thread in the artist’s life and work. He has completed numerous solo, group and collaborative exhibitions, commissions, studio residencies, workshops and murals, largely in south-east Queensland and Victoria, and more recently, north and far-north Queensland. Quapoor held a solo exhibition at the Biennale of Australian Art (BOAA), Ballarat in 2018, and has illustrated more than 15 collections of African Children’s Stories (Dūcere Foundation). He holds a Master of Arts & Cultural Management (University of Melbourne), a Bachelor of Creative Arts, Honours and a Bachelor of Visual Arts (with Distinction) (both University of Southern Queensland). He has works held in the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery - Toowoomba City Collection and private collections in Australia, the USA and Germany. The artist is also a Gallery Manager and independent curator (with interests in recontextualising collections and forging collaborations).

Artist Statement

Danish Quapoor works primarily in a distinctive illustrative and flat-colour style in which organic, geometric and stylised forms float amidst sparse compositions. Recent works have also begun to fluidly shift these forms (and indeed the form of the works themselves) from figurative to abstract realms. This aesthetic (along with Quapoor’s use of personal iconographies, wordplay and humour) often purposefully belies his underlying narratives to enable multiple readings and obfuscate personal details. Quapoor slyly explores contradictions, absurdities and frustrations within identity, relationships, religion, sexuality and morality. The artist is also informed by personal, observed and imagined experiences, collaborations, nature and pop culture, and is interested in exploring the subtleties and nuances where each of these interests overlap. Beyond his drawing practice, Quapoor brings a similar sensibility to his sculptural ceramic and textile forms. His three-dimensional work similarly occupies sparse arrangements - their placement, groupings and titles representing kinds of still life settings that also anthropomorphise the forms.

Testimonies

Real Testamonies
"Hideously good" - Alison Mooney of theGRID: hybrid arts collective, 2012
"Prince of wit" - Michelle Dang of Sleep Pile, 2016
Fake News Testamonies
"My favourite side project" - Anish Kapoor, at some point in the future, probably

Copyright Danish Quapoor © 2020 | danishquapoor@gmail.com | Visual artist and artsworker, Townsville, North Queensland, Australia.

All work is one of a kind, original artwork created by Danish Quapoor unless otherwise stated (i.e. in the case of collaborations or limited print runs). Images are digital photographs and presented as accurately as possible, however colours may appear slightly different in person.

I acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians, the Gurambilbarra Wulgurukaba and Bindal people, of the land on which I live and create. I pay respect to their elders past, present and future.