Education
1997 MFA, Massachusetts College of Art; Boston, MA.
1993 BFA, National College of Arts; Lahore, Pakistan.
Solo Exhibitions
2023
Lay Bare My Arms, Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA.
2020
‘Ambreen Butt: Say My Name.’ Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA.
2019
Ambreen Butt: Wife and Son of Badr Mansoor’. From the series ‘Say My Name,’ a site-specific window installation for Gallery Wendi Norris. San Francisco, CA.
2018
‘Ambreen Butt: Mark My Words’ Curated by Orin Zahra at the National Museum for the Women in the Arts, Washington DC.
2017
‘What is Left of Me’ exhibition of installations and drawings from the last ten years. Curated by Justine Ludwig at Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, TX.
‘I need a hero’ site-specific installation for Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA.
2016
A site-specific Installation curated by Virgina Shore and commissioned by the State Department’s Art In Embassies Program, USA Embassy Islamabad, Pakistan.
2015
‘I am all what is left of me’ Carroll and Sons, Boston, MA.
2013
Carroll and Sons present Solo Project by Ambreen Butt at Pulse Art Fair, NY.
2012
Beyond the ideas of rightness or wrongness, there is a field; I’ll meet you there. Carroll and Sons Art Gallery, Boston, MA.
2010
Dirty Pretty and other stories, Jeffe-Friede Gallery at Hopkinton Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.
2008
Dirty Pretty, Anna Kustera Gallery, New York, NY.
Ambreen Butt: Prints, Carroll and Sons Inc. Boston, MA.
2007
Cirque Du Monde, Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA.
I need a hero, Site Specific Installation, Flemming Museum University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.
2006
Maud Morgan prize: Ambreen butt, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.
2005
I Need a Hero, Kustera Tilton Gallery, New York, NY.
Demons, Roberts & Tilton Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2003
What is past, or passing, or to come, Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA.
I must utter what comes to my lips: Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA.
2002
Drawings by Ambreen Butt – Stephen L. Barstow Artist In Residence, University Art Gallery – Central Michigan University; Mount Pleasant, MI.
2001
Ambreen Butt: Home and the World, Bernard Toale Gallery; Boston, MA.
1999
The artist is an Allure of the closed Invitational Site Specific Installation, Institute of Contemporary Art; Boston, MA.
Bed of my own making; Bernard Toale Gallery; Boston, MA.
1997
Ambreen Butt: New Paintings, Bernard Toale Gallery; Boston, MA.
Group Exhibitions
2025
‘Border Crossings: Contemporary Art from the Zirinsky Collection,’ Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH.
2024
‘We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live,’ Marc Straus Gallery, New York, NY.
2023
‘In Focus: Artist at Work,’ National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC.
‘As They Saw It: Women Artists Then and Now,’ Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY.
2022
‘Say the dream was real and the wall imaginary’ Curated by Joseph R Wolin at Jane Lombard Gallery, New York, NY.
‘Three Fates | Ambreen Butt, Chitra Ganesh, Eva Schlegel’ Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA.
2021
‘The Worlds we Make: Selections from the ICA collection,’ Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA.
‘Paper Chase: Ten Years of Collecting Prints, Drawings, and Photographs’ Curated by Elizabeth Mitchell at the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
‘Anila Quayyum Agha, Ambreen Butt, Simeen Farhat,’ Curated by Benito Huerta for Gallery at UTA, University of Texas at Arlington, TX.
‘Person of Interest’, Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, NE.
‘What We Do in the Shadows’, De Cordova Museum of Art, Lincoln, MA.
2019
‘Site Lines: Artists Working in Texas’ Curated by Bridget Bray for Asia Society Texas Center, Houston, TX.
‘Rio Intermetentes Matanzas’ curated by Maria Magdalena Campos Pons for 13th Bienal de La Habana, Matanzas, Cuba.
‘Can’t Lock Me Up: Women Resist Silence.’ Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
‘Between Spirit and Magic,’ Curated by Jaishri Abichandani at Rossi and Rossi Art Gallery, Hong Kong.
2018
‘One in Three: Global Perspectives on Violence Against Women’ Lunder Arts Center, Roberts Gallery, Leslie University, Cambridge, MA.
2017
‘Sherezade’s Gift’ curated by Jaishri Abichandani at the Center for Book Arts. New York. NY.
Deep Cuts: Contemporary Paper Cutting. Currier Museum of Art Manchester, NH.
2016
I Bear Witness: 12 Gates Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
2015
Printer’s Proofs: 30 Years at Wingate Studio. Boston Univesity Art Galleries. Boston, MA.
2013
Illuminated Geographies: Pakistani Miniaturist Practice in the Wake of the Global Turn
Tufts University Art Gallery, Medford, MA.
2012
Art on Paper 2012: The 42nd Exhibition: Weatherspoon Art Museum. Greensboro, NC.
Lind Family Wing for Contemporary Art: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.
2011
Realms of Intimacy: Miniaturist Practice from Pakistan. Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, OH.
ArtAdia Boston, San Francisco Institute of Art, San Francisco, CA.
2010
Have I ever opposed you? New art from India and Pakistan, Faye Fleming and Partner, Geneva, Switzerland.
2009
In Stitches: Lelia Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery, Curated by Beth Rudin De Woody. New York, NY.
Out of Bounds: Art from the Collection of Driek and Michael Zirinsky. Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA.
Pretty Tough: Contemporary Storytelling, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Curated by Monica Ramirez Montagut. Ridgefield CT.
Bazgasht- Traditional methods and modern practice: Revival of miniature painting from the sub-continent: Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, ON.
2008
Portrait of a Museum, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA.
Distant Shores: Cultural Exchange in Contemporary Art, Curated by Deborah Disston. Mclninch Art Gallery, Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, NH.
Master Prints; Curated by Peter Wayne Lewis, Sunshine International Museum, Beijing, China.
2007
Global Feminism; Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA.
Global Feminisms Remix; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY.
Global Feminism; Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for feminist art, Brooklyn Museum. New York, NY.
Home Coming; Pakistan National Art Gallery, Islamabad, Pakistan.
2006
Banquet; Feast for the Senses, curated by Chip Tom, Asia Pacific Museum, Pasadena, CA.
Holy Land: Diaspora and the Desert; Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ.
Threads of Memory, curated by Margaret Mathews Berenson, Dorsky Gallery, Long Island City, NY.
2005
Time’s Arrow: Twelve Random Thoughts on Beauty, The Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.
The Observed and Envisioned; Davis Museum, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA.
2004
Visualizing Diaspora: Constructing Self, Gallery Artists Studio Projects, Brookline, MA.
Tale Spinning; The Drawing Center New York, NY.
I Want to Take You Higher; McKenzie Fine Arts, New York, NY.
For the Birds, Artspace, New Haven, CT.
Playing with a loaded gun, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany.
Masala Diversity & Democracy in South Asian Art, William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut.
2003
Playing with a loaded gun, Apex Art, New York, NY.
Contemporary Miniatures: India/Pakistan, The Fine Art Resource, Berlin, Germany.
2002
Get in Line, George Adams Gallery, New York, NY.
Artists in Residence, McColl center for visual Art, Charlotte, NC.
Painting in Boston: From 1950-2000, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park; Lincoln, MA.
India: Contemporary Responses, The Art Complex Museum; Duxbury, MA.
2001
HOME? Crosscurrents in Contemporary South Asian/American Art, The Brush Art Gallery; Lowell, MA.
Home and the World, India Center for Art and Culture; New York, NY.
2000
Material Revelations: Variations on COLLAGE, Fuller Museum of Art; Brockton, MA.
Palimpsest, Fuller Museum of Art; Brockton, MA.
The Figure: Another Side of Modernism from 1950 to the Present, New House Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor Cultural Center; Staten Island, NY.
2000 Annual Exhibition, DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park; Lincoln, MA.
1999
Go Figure; Leroy Neiman Center for Prints and Drawings; Columbia University, NY.
Collectors Collect Contemporary 1990-1999, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA.
1998
Posing, Mills Gallery at Boston Center for the Arts; Boston, MA.
1997
Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition, Bakalar Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art; Boston, MA.
1996
Annual National Exhibition, National Art Gallery; Islamabad, Pakistan.
Six Painters, Rohtas Gallery; Islamabad, Pakistan.
Asar, Alhamra Art Gallery; Lahore, Pakistan.
1995
Out of Pakistan, AMMARP Gallery; Boston, MA.
Awards / Fellowships / Residencies
2022
Nominated for ‘Anonymous Was a Woman’ Award
2020
Nominated for the ‘Joan Mitchell Foundation’ Award
2013
Brother Thomas Fellow, The Boston Foundation, Boston, MA
2010
Dartmouth College; Artist in Residence, Hanover, NH
2009
Distinguished achievement as an artist, Massachusetts College of Art Alumni Association, Boston, MA
Artadia Boston, fund for Art and Dialogue, New York, NY.
2006
Maud Morgan Prize, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Joan Mitchell Foundation; New York, NY
2002
Central Michigan State University; Stephen L. Barstow Artist in Residence; Mt. Pleasant, MI
McColl Center for Visual Arts; Artist in Residence; Charlotte, NC
2001
Canada Council for the Arts; Ontario, Canada
1999
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Artist in Residence. Boston, MA.
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; James and Audrey Foster Prize; Boston, MA.
1998
Saint Botolph Club Foundation Grant for Painters; Boston, MA.
1997 ART/ OMI; Artist in Residence; New York, NY.
Edward Albee Foundation; Artist in Residence; New York, NY.
Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for Painters; New York, NY.
1996
P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship; Des Moines, IA.
Teaching
Leslie University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Graduate Student Advisor for MFA Low Residency program. 2019.
Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts. Graduate Student Advisor MFA Low Residency Program. 2008/2013/2014.
School of The Museum of Fine Arts, Tufts University. Boston, Massachusetts. Visiting faculty 1999-2005.
Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts. Visiting faculty. 1997-2003.
Rhode Island School of Art and Design, Providence, Rhode Island. Visiting Faculty 2004.
Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant. Michigan. Assistant Professor and Artist in Residence 2003.
Collections
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH.
Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA.
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD.
Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH.
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH.
Davis Museum, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA.
DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park; Lincoln, MA.
Edward Albee Foundation; Montauk, NY.
Harvard Art Museums, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA.
Library of Congress, Washington DC.
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN.
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, MA.
Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University, Topeka, KS.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX.
National Museum for the Women in the Arts, Washington, DC.
Newark Museum of Art, Newark, NJ.
Sheldon Art Museum, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Lincoln, NE.
U.S. Art in Embassies, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Worcester Art Museum; Worcester, MA.
Bibliography
Bridget Quinn; Beauty and Danger in the Art of Ambreen Butt. Hyperallergic. Dec 12th, 2023.
Mark Van Proyen; Lay bareMy Arms. Visual Art Resource. Nov 28th, 2023.
Kourosh Ziabari: Can Art Change the World? An Interview with Artist Ambreen Butt. Fair Observer. Sept 17th, 2019.
Molly Glentzer; Houston Chronicle. ‘Site Lines’ collection delivers a knockout socio-political punch. Aug 13th, 2019.
Robert Aubry; Ambreen Butt: WETA Around Town, PBS station for Washington DC. Feb 26th, 2019.
Noelani Kirschner; The American Scholar. Ambreen Butt: Mark My Words. Washington, DC, Feb 25th, 2019.
Vanessa H. Larson; The Washington Post. Two Pakistani American Women reinvent traditional art with unconventional subjects: Washington, DC, Feb 6th, 2019.
Ari Post; The George Towner. Museums, Shutdown, and Ambreen Butt at NMWA. Washington, DC, Jan 22nd, 2019.
Menachem Wecker; The Art News Paper. Pakistani American Artist Ambreen Butt imbues Traditional Miniatures with timely social criticism. Washington, DC Jan 16th2019.
Hady Mawajdeh; Art & Seek, KERA public radio. Artist Spotlight: A Big Push to Re-Think Miniature Painting. Dallas, TX Aug 17th. 2017.
Joseph R. Wolin; Glasstire. Ambreen Butt at Dallas Contemporary. June 24th, 2017.
Beenish Ahmed: This Miniature Artist is Taking on Big Issues. OZY.Com April 16th, 2017.
William Batchelor; I Need a Hero, Museum Introduces a Female Heroine to the Gardner Museum. Boston Heights. Jan 25th, 2017.
Andrea Shea, Pakistani Artist Known for Miniature Paintings Goes Big. WBUR Public Radio. Boston Jan 12th, 2017.
Cate McQuaid, Ambreen Butt Demonstrates Art of Diplomacy. The Boston Globe, April 28th, 2015.
Francine Koslow Miller; Ambreen Butt at Carroll and Sons. Art in America, April 2013.
Cate McQuaid; Global Miniaturists. Boston Globe. Feb 26th, 2013.
Christopher Capozzola; Illuminated geographies: Pakistani Miniaturist Practice in the wake of global turn. Art New England. Jan 2013.
Cate McQuaid; Cultural divides, blurred and explosive, in Ambreen Butt’s artwork. Boston Globe Dec 11th, 2012.
Greg Cook; Traditional Contemporary; Ambreen Butt. The Phoenix, Dec 3rd, 2012.
Christian Holland; Ambreen Butt at Carroll and Sons. Art New England, October 2012.
Maria Seda-Reeder, Epic Miniatures: Contemporary Pakistani Miniaturist Techniques. AeQai, October 15th, 2011.
Benjamin Genocchio; Amazing Stories: Emotionally Charged Narrative in Pictures. The NY Times, Sep 13th 2009.
Cate McQuaid; Politics and Nuance. The Boston Globe, Nov 5th, 2008.
Carol Armstrong, Global Feminisms. Art Forum International, May 2007.
Cate McQuaid, A pattern of Success. The Boston Globe. March 17th, 2007.
Ken Johnson, A dreamlike glimpse of the cosmic and mundane, The Boston Globe, November 30th, 2006.
Atteqa Ali, New Platforms for Discussion, The Nations, September 25, 2006.
Meera Rajagopalan, Miniature Artist Mixes Traditional Skills, Modern Ideas, India New England, May 15, 2006.
Lilly Wei, Ambreen Butt: Kustera Tilton Gallery, Art news, October 2005.
Atteqa Ali, Impassioned Voices: Art as Social Commentary in Pakistan, Art Asia Pacific, Fall 2005.
Grace Glueck, Ambreen Butt: I Need a Hero, The New York Times, July 8, 2005.
Judy Birke, A Fowl Menagerie, The New Haven Register, March 14, 2004.
Benjamin Genocchio, Not Only Watching, Painting and Sculpting, Too, The New York Times, February 5, 2004.
Serena Crivellaro, For the Birds not for the weak of heart, flighty, The Yale Herald, January 23, 2004.
McQuaid, Cate, Miniature paintings convey great power, The Boston Globe October 17, 2003.
Masood Haider, Miniature Galore, Dawn, September 27, 2003.
Holland Cotter, Playing with a loaded gun, The New York Times September 12, 2003.
Mark Pickering, Art Exhibit Talks War, Gender, Independence, India New England News, May 1, 2003.
Cate McQuaid, A Woman of Many Worlds, The Boston Globe April 11, 2003.
Nancy Sheehan, Ambreen Butt: Finding a Voice Through Her Art, Worcester Telegram, March 23, 2003.
Mary Sherman; Boston Herald; Small Worlds¹ show intricacies of India. August 25, 2002.
Holland Cotter, The New York Times, August 23, 2002; Art Complex, Duxbury²
Cate McQuaid, The Boston Globe; Small Paintings offer a big picture of India. August 23, 2002.
Mellisa L. Grunow, Central Michigan Life; Identity on Display. April 10, 2002.
Stephen Jermanok, Artists In Residence, Boston Magazine, February 2001.
Brigid Watson, Exploring Identity: Artist Examines Tension Between East and West in New Series, South End News, November 25, 2001.
Cate McQuaid, Painted Layers Reveal A Rich Self-Portrait, Boston Globe, November 10, 2001.
Cate McQuaid, A Fusion of South Asian, American Cultures, Boston Globe, March 29, 2001.
Martin DesMarais, Mass. Gallery Exhibits South Asian Artists, India New England News, March 2001.
Mary Sampas, Brush Art Gallery Celebrates the Exotic Art of India, The Sun. February 27, 2001.
Christine Temin, For the Love of Cod, The Boston Globe, September 14, 2000.
Cate McQuaid, In Brockton: Embodiment of Change, The Boston Globe, June 28, 2000.
Mary Sherman, Show Questions New York’s Dominance, Boston Herald, July 2, 2000.
Cate McQuaid, Disparate Solo Shows Strong at DeCordova The Boston Globe, June 23, 2000.
Denise Markonish, Defining a New Cultural Language, Art New England, June/July 2000.
Karin Miller-Lewis, Recent Work by Artists of South Asian Descent in the USA, Art India, January 2000.
Miles Unger, Bernard Toale Gallery/Boston – Ambreen Butt: Works on Paper, Art New England, August /September 1999.
Cate McQuaid, Miniature Myths The Boston Globe, April 29, 1999.
Gary Duehr, Global Art from Local Collections, The Boston Tab, April 13, 1999.
Posing, The Boston Globe, December 31, 1998.
Ann Wilson Lloyd, Ambreen Butt at Bernard Toale, Art in America, May 1998.
Joanne Silver, Brush Strokes Free Painter from Her Constraints, Boston Herald, December 19, 1997.
Publication
What Comes to My Lips: Ambreen Butt, Published by Black Dog Press, London 2023.
Translocal: Contemporary Miniaturist Practice Out of Pakistan. Published by Tufts University Art Gallery. 2013.
Ambreen But, Artist in Residence. Published by Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.
Ambreen Butt; Bernard Toale gallery, Boston, MA. 2007.
Global Feminisms; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY 2007.
Holy Land: Diaspora and the Desert; Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ 2006.
Observed and Envisioned; Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 2005.
Contemporary Miniatures from India/ Pakistan; Fine Art Resource Center, Berlin, Germany 2003.
I Must Utter What comes to my lips; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA 2003.
Painting in Boston, from 1950-present; DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, 2002.
Home And The World; India Center for Art and Culture; New York, NY 2001.
HOME? Crosscurrents in Contemporary South Asian/American Art; Brush Art Gallery; Lowell, MA; 2001.
The 2000 DeCordova Annual Exhibition; DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park; Lincoln, MA, 2000.
The Figure: Another Side of Modernism; Snug Harbor Cultural Center; Staten Island, NY, 2000.