Anwar Jalal Shemza

About Anwar Jalal Shemza
(1928-1985)

Anwar Jalal Shemza (born Simla 1928, died Stafford 1985), is a world-renowned British Pakistani painter. There has been greater recognition of his work since his death in 1985 beginning with the pioneering exhibition ‘The Other Story’ 1989, Hayward Gallery. Shemza’s painting ‘The Wall’ was chosen to illustrate the cover of the catalogue. His unique style developed through a painting practice which fused Western ideas of abstraction with Eastern influences such as Islamic architecture and calligraphy.

Selected public collections include: Tate, British Museum (UK), Metropolitan Museum, (USA), Guggenheim (Abu Dhabi), Sharjah Art Foundation, and M+ Museum, (Hong Kong).

The Estate of Anwar Jalal Shemza is represented by Hales Gallery (London) and Jhaveri Contemporary (London, India).

Find out more

Featured

Anwar Jalal Shemza: A Circle, A Square, A Puzzle

Dulwich Picture Gallery
21 September 2027 – 16 January 2028

A major retrospective of Anwar Jalal Shemza will open at Dulwich Picture Gallery in September 2027, curated by Hammad Nasar.

The first major UK museum exhibition dedicated to Shemza’s work in more than 30 years, Anwar Jalal Shemza: A Circle, A Square, A Puzzle will bring together over 80 works spanning his practice, offering a fresh appraisal of an artist whose distinctive visual language brought together modernism, abstraction, calligraphy and Islamic architectural forms.

The exhibition will include celebrated works such as Blue Blue Jazz (1967) and Square Composition (1963), alongside Shemza’s later Roots series (1977–84).

Discover the exhibition →

Image: Anwar Jalal Shemza, Blue Blue Jazz, 1967.

Anwar Jalal Shemza, Roots Drawing, 1984.

Latest News

Anwar Jalal Shemza in Listening to the Earth at Drawing Room

24 September - 13 December 2026
Drawing Room, London

Anwar Jalal Shemza’s Roots Drawings (1984) will feature in Listening to the Earth, a group exhibition at Drawing Room curated by Hammad Nasar, exploring how artists have engaged with land, nature and the environment through drawing.

The exhibition brings together works by artists from across generations and geographies, considering drawing as a means of observing, understanding and connecting with the natural world.

Part of the final series of works Shemza made before his death, the Roots series brought together many of the concerns that had shaped his practice over several decades, combining abstracted organic forms with the geometry and calligraphic language that characterised his work.

Find out more →