David Alesworth is a sculptor, photographer and researcher of garden histories, working between Pakistan and the UK. Over the past decade, the garden has been a key metaphor for him, with which to question humanity’s culturally specific relationships with the natural world. His own hybrid identity informs many aspects of his practice and he has an enduring commitment to public art projects. He was a pivotal member of the Karachi Pop movement in the 1990’s, the head of Sculpture at the IVSAA, Karachi, and is a life member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. His work has been featured in publications such as the Architectural Review and PMC, British Art Studies.
Recent exhibitions include:
Beyond the Page: South Asian Miniature Painting and Britain, 1600 to Now (Feb. 2024 – 02 Jun. 2024) The Box, Plymouth and (Oct. 2023 to Jan. 2024) MK Gallery, Milton Keynes. Hortus Nocte (solo) Karachi (2023); Patterns of the Past: Weaving and Heritage in Pakistani Art (2021) London. The Carless Mapping (solo) (2020); Karachi. Centre of Gravity (2020), Bristol, Lie of the Land, MK Gallery (2019); The Glory of the Garden (solo) Karachi (2019); The Lahore Biennale (2018); The Karachi Biennale (2017); Pera Museum, Istanbul (2016); Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju (2017); and the A. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts, Almaty, Kazakhstan (2018). Other shows include: The Architecture of Life, BAMPFA, Berkeley University, USA (2016); Dhaka Art Summit 2016, 8th Berlin Biennale (2014); and The Garden of Ideas, Agha Khan Museum, Toronto (2015).
Alesworth is a Stanley Picker Fellowship award holder and was shortlisted for the V&A Jameel Prize in 2016