The first time I came across Imran Qureshi's work was at Sharjah Biennial in 2011 when he painted the entire courtyard of Bait Al Serkal with blood.
Ok it wasn't really blood it was red paint, made to look like it had been splashed all over the place arbitrarily, as if some kind of mass disaster had taken place. But upon closer inspection the entire area was covered in finely painted flowers.
There was something magical in the juxtaposition of the two - extreme violence and extreme beauty - and the level of talent and patience that it took to hand-paint that courtyard was clearly admirable. Ever since, I have followed his work, which has been largely centred around that idea.
I found out last week, however, that the Sharjah installation was the first time he painted like that and part of the reason he continued the idea was the reaction people had to it. "Before that I was still working with the idea of violence and life and death," he told me, "but this was the first time the red came as blood and I was amazed by people's reactions."
He was also spotted then by the team at Deutsche Bank and nominated as their 2013 Artist of the Year. Now, almost three years later, Qureshi is showing a collection of his works in Salsali Private Museum in a travelling exhibition and I was lucky enough to get an early preview. There is a review appearing in Tuesday's edition of The National's Arts & Life section and other than that I just have one piece of advice: if you haven't been to see it yet, you really must.
* Imran Qureshi: Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year runs until February 28 at Salsali Private Museum, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai. For more info call: 04 380 9600