Faisal Abdu'Allah (born 1969 in London) is a British artist and barber. His work includes

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

, screenprint and

installation Installation may refer to: * Installation (computer programs) * Installation, work of installation art * Installation, military base * Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian li ...

Life and work

Abdu'Allah was born Paul Duffus in 1969 and grew up in a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

family. He was educated at Willesden High School,

Harrow School of Art , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

Central St Martins Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

and the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

. In 1991, Abdu'Allah converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and changed his name. The event was described in the BBC television documentary series ''The Day That Changed My Life'', and formed the subject of the artist's 1992 work ''Thalatha Haqq (Three Truths)''. He taught at the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

(UEL),, formerly North East London Polytechnic. He was a visiting professor at Stanford University and is a member of the

Association of Black Photographers Autograph ABP, previously known as the Association of Black Photographers, is a British-based international, non-profit-making, photographic arts agency. History Autograph was originally established in London in 1988. Founders included the photog ...

. In the spring of 2013, Abdu'Allah was an

artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

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. He is now an associate professor of art and in 2017, received one of UW–Madison's Romnes Faculty Fellowships. In his work ''The Last Supper'', eleven men and women sit in Islamic costume around a table, while a figure corresponding to

Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...

stands, concealing a gun behind his back. ''Silent Witness'' featured portraits of young black men, with a soundtrack mixing rap, prayer and interviews.

Group exhibitions

* 1993: ''Borderless Print''. Rochdale Art Gallery, Rochdale. With Saleem Arif,

Chris Ofili Christopher Ofili, (born 10 October 1968) is a British Turner Prize-winning painter who is best known for his paintings incorporating elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists. Since 2005, Ofili has been living and working in Trin ...

Donald Rodney Donald Gladstone Rodney (18 May 1961 – 4 March 1998) was a British artist. He was a leading figure in Britain's BLK Art Group of the 1980s and became recognised as "one of the most innovative and versatile artists of his generation." Rodney's w ...

, and Maud Suiter. *1994: ''Us an' Dem''. The Storey Institute, Lancaster. With

Denzil Forrester Denzil Forrester (born 1956) is a Grenada-born artist who moved to England as a child in 1967.Niru Ratnam"Denzil Forrester" in Alison Donnell (ed.), ''Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture'', Routledge, 2002, p. 117. Previously based i ...

, and

Tam Joseph Tam Joseph (born 1947) is a Dominica-born British painter, formerly known as Tom Joseph. Described as "a uniquely talented, multidimensional artist" by art historian Eddie Chambers, "Tam Joseph has contributed a number of memorable paintings th ...

. *1995: ''Make Believe.'' Royal College of Art Galleries and other sites around London. In collaboration with Clive Allen. *1995: ''Revelations''. Bonington Galleries, Nottingham. With Clive Allen. *1995: ''The Impossible Science of Being: Dialogues between Anthropology and Photography''. The Photographers’ Gallery, London. With

Zarina Bhimji Zarina Bhimji (born 1963) is a Ugandan Indian photographer, based in London. She was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2007, exhibited at Documenta 11 in 2002, and is represented in the public collections of Tate, the Museum of Contemporary Art i ...

, and Dave Lewis.

References

External links

Official Website

Iniva website

South London Gallery

Interview in the ''New Statesman''

Magnolia Editions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abduallah, Faisal 1969 births Living people Academics of the University of East London Alumni of Central Saint Martins Alumni of the Royal College of Art Artists from London Black British artists British contemporary artists Converts to Islam from Protestantism Former Pentecostals Barbers