Mala Iqbal

Interviews by Brainard Carey

Mala Iqbal was born in the Bronx in 1973 and grew up in a household where three cultures and four languages intersected. “The Edge of an Encounter,” a solo show of her paintings and works on paper is currently on view at JJ Murphy Gallery in New York until November 9, 2024. Other solo exhibitions were at Soloway Gallery in Brooklyn; Ulterior Gallery, Bellwether Gallery, and PPOW in New York; Taylor University in Upland, Indiana; Twelve Gates Arts in Philadelphia; and Richard Heller Gallery in Los Angeles.

Her series of collaborative paintings, made with Angela Dufresne, was shown in October 2021 at the Richard and Dolly Maass Gallery, SUNY Purchase, and at LSU in Baton Rouge in November 2023. Her work has been exhibited in group shows throughout the United States as well as in Australia, China, Europe, and India. Her work has been reviewed in various publications including The New York Times, The Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic and The New Yorker. Iqbal has been awarded artist residencies at the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, The Fine Arts Work Center, and the Hermitage Artist Retreat. She received a Joan Mitchell Fellowship in 2023. Mala Iqbal lives and works in New York City.

Animals, 2024 Oil on canvas 12 x 16 inches

Ghost Friend, 2024 Gouache and crayon on gray paper 4 x 6 inches.

Interrupture, 2024 Oil on canvas 72 x 96 inches.