(1928 - 1985)
Born in Simla, India, in 1928, Anwar Jalal Shemza attended the Mayo School of Art (now the National College of Arts) in Lahore, where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in art, before enrolling in the Slade School of Art, London in 1956. While living in London he exhibited his works at Gallery One alongside. F. N. Souza and Avinash Chandra, and also had shows at Manchester Metropolitan University in 1992; the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, in 1972; the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art, Durham, in 1963; the Pakistan National Council of the Arts, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore, in 1960 -62; Gallery One in 1960; and at the influential new Visions Centre in 1958. Group shows featuring Shemza’s work include ‘Pakistan Another vision’ at the Centre of Contemporary Art, Glasgow, in 2000; ‘Typo’ at ikon, Birmingham, in 1999-2000; ‘Printmakers of Pakistan’ at Bradford City Gallery & Museum in 1997-98; ‘The Other Story’ at Hayward Gallery, London, in 1989-90; the 1st British International Drawing Biennial at Teeside Art Gallery, in 1973, where he was a major Prize recipient; the 6th International Print Biennial, Tokyo, in 1968; “Treasures from the Commonwealth’ at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 1965; and the 6th Triennial of World Art, New Delhi, in 1956. The Artist passed away in 1985.