Faisal Abdu'Allah

Faisal Abdu'Allah
Born1969
London, England, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
Alma materWillesden High School
Harrow School of Art
Central St Martins
Royal College of Art
Occupation(s)Artist and barber
Known forPainting, illustration

Faisal Abdu'Allah (born 1969 in London) is a British artist and barber.[1] His work includes photography, screenprint and installations.

Life and work

Abdu'Allah was born Paul Duffus in 1969 and grew up in a Pentecostal family. He was educated at Willesden High School, Harrow School of Art, Central St Martins and the Royal College of Art.[2]

In 1991, Abdu'Allah converted to Islam and changed his name. The event was described in the BBC television documentary series The Day That Changed My Life,[3] and formed the subject of the artist's 1992 work Thalatha Haqq (Three Truths).[4] He taught at the University of East London (UEL),[5] formerly North East London Polytechnic. He was a visiting professor at Stanford University[6] and is a member of the Association of Black Photographers.[7]

In the spring of 2013, Abdu'Allah was an artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arts Institute, and in the fall of 2014 he returned to Wisconsin, this time as an assistant professor in the Art Department of the School of Education.[8] He is now an associate professor of art and in 2017, received one of UW–Madison's Romnes Faculty Fellowships.[9]

In his work The Last Supper, eleven men and women sit in Islamic costume around a table, while a figure corresponding to Judas Iscariot stands, concealing a gun behind his back. Silent Witness featured portraits of young black men, with a soundtrack mixing rap, prayer and interviews.[10]

Group exhibitions

References

  1. ^ Jo Littler and Roshi Naidoop, The Politics of Heritage: Legacies of Race, Routledge, p. 178. ISBN 978-0-415-32210-2.
  2. ^ Michael Edmands, Artist who is a cut above, The Guardian, 30 June 2001.
  3. ^ Thomas Sutcliffe, Review, The Independent, 24 August 1995.
  4. ^ V&A website
  5. ^ ,"AVA Staff – Academic Staff".
  6. ^ "Faisal Abdu'Allah: The Art of Dislocation". Stanford University. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  7. ^ Elizabeth M. Hallam and Brian V. Street, Cultural Encounters: representing otherness, Routledge, p. 273. ISBN 978-0-415-20279-4.
  8. ^ "School of Education welcoming new cohort of faculty members for 2014–15". University of Wisconsin-Madison. 27 August 2014. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  9. ^ Kassulke, Natasha (16 March 2017). "Abdu'Allah among 11 UW-Madison professors to receive Romnes Faculty Fellowships". University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  10. ^ Ratnam, Niru (2002). "Abdu'Allah, Faisal". In Alison Donnell (ed.). Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-1-134-70025-7.
  11. ^ a b c d e Recordings: A Select Bibliography of Contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British Art. UK: Institute of International Visual Arts and Chelsea College of Art and Design. 1996. pp. 41–44, 49. ISBN 1899846-06-9.