Murtaza Vali is an independent critic and curator based in Brooklyn, USA and Sharjah, UAE. A recipient of a 2011 Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant for Short-Form Writing, he regularly publishes in various international art periodicals and has contributed to numerous publications for both commercial galleries and non-profit institutions globally. Past curatorial projects include: “Formal Relations” (Taymour Grahne Gallery, New York, 2015), “Accented” (Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, 2015), “Geometries of Difference: New Approaches to Abstraction and Ornament” (Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, 2015), “PTSD: Shahpour Pouyan” (Lawrie Shabibi Gallery, Dubai, 2014), “extra|ordinary: The Abraaj Group Art Prize 2013” (Art Dubai, 2013), “Brute Ornament” (Green Art Gallery, Dubai, 2012) and “Accented” (BRIC Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, 2010). He also edited Manual for Treason, a multilingual publication commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation for Sharjah Biennial 10 (2011) and served on the Selection Jury for the 2010 Sharjah Art Foundation Production Program grants.
