Sacha Jafri

Tales of the city

A prolific and charismatic artist has just launched an ambitious two-year tour of his city-centric works.

March 2008

Sacha Jafri kicked off a two-year world tour of his artworks with a charity auction in Dubai last month. With prints selling for around US$40,000 it proved that the artist has come a long way since he first got into painting as a dyslexic student with failing grades. He says he found true freedom of expression through painting after experiencing heartbreaking difficulties with reading because of his dyslexia.

The touring exhibition, a 10-year retrospective, features bold yet accessible works with the city of London as a strong theme. At the opening night charity auction in Dubai, there was also much attention paid to a strikingly simple painting - a black canvas studded with rows of the artist's paintbrushes caked in rich colour.

Jafri has received all manner of prestigious commissions for his works including one from Prince Albert of Monaco to create a work that celebrates the city's Grand Prix. He painted the piece at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and it has been displayed at the Royal Hermitage and the National Gallery. The result is a bright and joyous painting that captures the movement and spirit of the event.

His paintings now fetch dazzling prices - a price range of £60,000-£150,000 is not unusual for the artist whose talent has been compared to other leading lights in the London art scene such as Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.

• The exhibition will be open to the public at the Grand Hyatt Dubai and Majlis Gallery, Bastakiya until March 4 and then move on to the Sharjah Museum during March.

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