Mughees Riaz

BIOGRAPHY

Born in 1971 in Pakistan, Mughees Riaz is a nationally recognised artist, painter and art educator based in Lahore, Pakistan Being the third generation, Raiz embraced the artistic path at a very young age due to the art influence present in his immediate and extended family His maternal grandfather Muhammad Azad was the first poster painter of Pakistani cinema His father was an accomplished graphic designer who graduated from Mayo School of Arts Two of his brothers, as well as his wife are art graduates and practicing artists.

In 1992 Riaz enrolled at the University of Punjab and majored in Fine Arts This is where he received his BFA, MFA and M Phil degrees in the years 1997 1999 and 2015 Right after his graduation in 1999 he was offered a job as an art educator at the same university Now he is a permanent faculty member at the College of Art and Design, University of Punjab.

Riaz is a prominent visual artist and is best known for his landscape and figurative paintings This genre is the closest to his heart He regards the legendary landscape artist Khalid Iqbal as an earlier inspiration and mentor Raiz's own landscapes are not only aesthetically beautiful and the rendition of "Play of Light" but they also offer his viewers several layers and meanings.

Not just limited to landscape, Raiz's oeuvre includes still life, portrait, drawing and figure compositions Riaz follows pictorial fundamentals, however he also uses his signature symbolism to establish certain ' in his artwork Thus his work can be easily distinguished from traditional landscape paintings of Pakistan He often uses landscape as a prop to record something deeper and multi layered.

Exhibiting his work since the year 1999 to date, Riaz has participated in several regional, national and international exhibitions including solos and group shows His solo exhibitions include Kirdaar at Canvas Art Gallery Karachi in 2021 Light as an Element of Art at Anna Molka Art Gallery College of Art PU Lahore in 2016 The River Sutra at Ejaz Art Gallery Lahore in 2014 From Pottery to Poetry at Canvas Art Gallery Karachi in 2011 Recent Work by Mughess Riaz at Nomat Art Gallery Islamabad in 2009 A River Run Through It at Ejaz Art Gallery Lahore in 2008 Corporal Careat at Convas Art Gallery Karachi in 2007 ,,"Recent Work by Mughees Riaz at Khas Art Gallery, Islamabad in 2005 A Vision of Infinite Space at Canvas Art Gallery Karachi in 2004 Recent Work by Mughees Riaz at Ejaz Art Gallery Lahore in 2001.

He has also taken part in numerous international group exhibitions including the Literary and Social Festival in Orlando Florida, USA from the 4 th to the 11 th of July in 2019 Group Show A Project of Imago Mandi Lines in the Sand Contemporary Art from Pakistan, in Italy in 2018 and many others.

Riaz has received numerous awards until now He is the recipient of the National Excellence Award (Visual Art) at the 8 th National Exhibition of Visual Arts, organized by the Pakistani National Council of Arts, in Islamabad in the year 2003 Some other awards include the Certificate of Appreciation from the Chinese Ambassador for participating in a joint exhibition and auction of Chinese and Pakistani artists, PNCA 21 Oct 2016.

Riaz was also presented a shield by the Civil Services Academy in Lahore in 2001 He won 1 st prize in the Painting Directorate General of Social Welfare He had the privilege of working as a Drawing Assistant at the Saeed Akhtar's Drawing Studio in Lahore He also attended the drawing workshop with Colin David at Al Hamra Cultural Complex Lahore 2000 Riaz has attended the Cultural Exchange Program in different cities of China organized by the Chinese embassy Over the last two decades, Riaz s work has been reviewed and covered in several publications and in all major newspapers and magazines of Pakistan Riaz's work can be found in myriad of public and private art collections both nationally and internationally.