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

Anwar Jalal Shemza, Untitled (Movement), 1973

Latest News

South Asian Modern Art 2026
10th June - 4th July 2026 
Grosvenor Gallery

We are delighted that a Shemza collage is included in South Asian Modern Art 2026 at Grosvenor Gallery. The exhibition brings together a group of works by artists from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the diaspora, spanning the late nineteenth century through to the contemporary period.  The show includes paintings, works on paper, sculpture and textiles by some of the most important names in South Asian modernism.

MORE

Works

View more work

"One circle, one square, one problem, one life is not enough to solve it” - Anwar Jalal Shemza, 1962