Biography

Using techniques rooted firmly in tradition, Ambreen Butt (b. 1969, Lahore) creates works that explore the complexities of contemporary global politics, female identity and living as a Muslim in the United States. Employing actions including staining, cutting, ripping and tacking with repetitive urgency, Butt's painted and collaged works on paper and large-scale resin installations espouse the radiant aesthetics of sacred geometries and Islamic ornamentation. Often using text-based source materials that include the names of children who lost their lives to war, transcripts from terrorism trials, and quotations from news media, Butt's work is built upon some of the most challenging moral questions of the 21st century. Rather than offer answers, her artworks exist as laborious meditations on humanity.

 

Butt's work has been featured in solo exhibitions at institutions including the Dallas Contemporary, TX; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA; among others.

Butt has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Brother Thomas Fellowship from the Boston Foundation, Maud Morgan Prize from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, a Joan Mitchell Foundation grant, and a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario, Canada. In 1999, she was the first recipient of the James and Audrey Foster Prize from the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston in addition to being an artist-in-residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum that same year. 

 

Her work is collected by public institutions including The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, the Library of Congress, Washington, DC,  Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota, National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts, the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Massachusetts, U.S. Art in Embassies, Islamabad, Pakistan, The Newark Museum of Art, among others. 

 

Butt lives and works in Southlake, Texas. She received her BFA in traditional Indian and Persian miniature painting from the National College of Arts in Lahore. She earned her MFA in painting in 1997 from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston.  

Works
  • Ambreen Butt, Arsenal of Ambiguity, 2023
    Arsenal of Ambiguity, 2023
  • Ambreen Butt, Installation view, "Lay Bare My Arms," Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2023
    Installation view, "Lay Bare My Arms," Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2023
  • Ambreen Butt, Contours of Fragility, 2023
    Contours of Fragility, 2023
  • Ambreen Butt, Guardians of Safe Heavens, 2023
    Guardians of Safe Heavens, 2023
  • Ambreen Butt, Installation view, "Lay Bare My Arms," Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2023
    Installation view, "Lay Bare My Arms," Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2023
  • Ambreen Butt, Tearful Harvests, 2023
    Tearful Harvests, 2023
  • Ambreen Butt, Shah Jahan from the series Say My Name, 2023
    Shah Jahan from the series Say My Name, 2023
  • Ambreen Butt, Installation view, "Wife and Son of Badr Mansoor," Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2020
    Installation view, "Wife and Son of Badr Mansoor," Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2020
  • Ambreen Butt, Namaloom (Unknown #2), 2018
    Namaloom (Unknown #2), 2018
  • Ambreen Butt, Mohammad Yaas Khan (16), 2020
    Mohammad Yaas Khan (16), 2020
  • Ambreen Butt, Namaloom (Unknown #4), 2020
    Namaloom (Unknown #4), 2020
  • Ambreen Butt, Noor Mohammad (15), 2020
    Noor Mohammad (15), 2020
  • Ambreen Butt, Razi Mohammad (16), 2020
    Razi Mohammad (16), 2020
  • Ambreen Butt, Asadullah (9), 2019
    Asadullah (9), 2019
  • Ambreen Butt, Installation view, "I am all what is left of me," Dallas Contemporary, Dallas Texas. Courtesy of Dallas Contemporary, 2015
    Installation view, "I am all what is left of me," Dallas Contemporary, Dallas Texas. Courtesy of Dallas Contemporary, 2015
  • Ambreen Butt, Installation view, "I am my lost diamond 2," Dallas Contemporary, Dallas Texas. Courtesy of Dallas Contemporary, 2013
    Installation view, "I am my lost diamond 2," Dallas Contemporary, Dallas Texas. Courtesy of Dallas Contemporary, 2013
  • Ambreen Butt, Pages of Deception, 2012
    Pages of Deception, 2012
  • Ambreen Butt, Installation view, "I Am My Lost Diamond," Asia Society Texas Center, Houston, TX, 2011
    Installation view, "I Am My Lost Diamond," Asia Society Texas Center, Houston, TX, 2011
  • Ambreen Butt, Daughters of the East, 2008
    Daughters of the East, 2008
  • Ambreen Butt, Installation view, "Daughters of the East," as part of "Multiple Voices," Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2024
    Installation view, "Daughters of the East," as part of "Multiple Voices," Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2024
Exhibitions
Art Fairs
Video
News
Publications