“Futuristic landscapes by Joseph Siddiqi combine dense urban geometry, vast skies and vibrant colour at Newzones Gallery”, Preview: A Canada-wide guide to the season’s best exhibitions, Canadian Art, Spring 2009.

Joseph Siddiqi’s paintings belong to the tradition of emblematic city views. As with the finest portraits, Siddiqi’s approach is interpretive rather than documentary: he seeks to portray the essence of the city rather than to document its actual appearance. In Aristotelian terms, he substitutes poetic for historical truth. An up-and-coming painter, his work shows an astute sensibility for colour combined with a sensuous depiction of symbolic form. From abstracted images of the inner city to futuristic renderings of places to come, Siddiqi offers viewers an insightful look at our often tenuous relationship with our surroundings.

Joseph Siddiqi was born in Montreal in 1972. He studied at the Ecole Nationale des beaux-arts de Bourges in France, completed a BFA in Studio Art at Concordia University and holds a Master in Painting from Boston University. Siddiqi lived and worked in New York City before establishing his studio in Montreal. He has been awarded grants by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts at des letters du Quebec and the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. Siddiqi’s work can be found in the Colart Collection, the Canada Council Art Bank and numerous private collections throughout Canada, the United States and Europe.