Yusuf

Yusuf makes spare, quietly geometric abstractions — most often in ink on rice paper — in which the drawn line is treated as a living thing, one that settles limitless possibility into a single, definite form.

Born in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, in 1952, Yusuf took diplomas in both painting and sculpture in his home city in the 1970s. Though trained across the two disciplines, his mature practice belongs chiefly to painting and the graphic arts: pared-down compositions whose forms, now and then geometric, are scattered lightly over the surface, occasionally worked in mixed media but grounded in his preferred pairing of ink and rice paper. Seen from afar the works carry a composed, almost built quality; at close range they resolve into countless small marks and textures, a quiet record of time spent.

Yusuf played a pioneering part in establishing the Graphic Workshop at Bharat Bhavan, the multi-arts centre in Bhopal, where he went on to serve as Deputy Director of Graphics. He has held some twenty-five solo exhibitions, and his work has featured in significant group showings, among them the Seventh Triennale-India in New Delhi (1992) and the Bangladesh Biennale in Dhaka (1995), with further presentations in Korea and Japan — where he has also delivered a series of lectures. He holds honorary memberships in a number of national and international institutions.

His honours include the Lalit Kala Akademi National Award, New Delhi (1987), the Raza Award, and a National Fellowship from the Ministry of Culture, New Delhi, alongside earlier recognitions such as an award at the All India Exhibition, Raipur (1976–77), the International Asian European Biennial in Turkey (1980), the All India Drawing Exhibition, Chandigarh (1984–85), the Bharat Bhavan Biennial, Bhopal (1986), the All India Kalidas Award, Ujjain, and Madhya Pradesh state awards. Yusuf lives and works in Bhopal.