Hamad Butt: Apprehensions is the first retrospective exhibition of the work of pioneering artist Hamad Butt (1962-1994) organised by IMMA and Whitechapel Gallery, London. Hamad Butt’s work is poignant and severe, emotive yet austere. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, and raised in London, he was British South Asian, Muslim, and queer. Before his AIDS-related death in 1994, aged 32, Butt completed and showed four key sculptural installations and left behind writings, drawings, paintings, and plans for new installations. This is the first time his work will be shown outside of the UK.

Butt was a pioneer of intermedia interventions in art and science, conceptual sculpture, installation, and queer diasporic art. He was a contemporary of the Young British Artists (and their peer at Goldsmiths) and critics described him as epitomizing the new ‘hazardism’ in art. He exhibited widely in his lifetime, and he was arguably the first British artist to respond in a non-militant, conceptual mode to HIV/AIDS. His iconic sculptural works have never been shown together, his paintings and drawings never exhibited until now.

Hamad Butt: Apprehensions is curated by Dominic Johnson, Professor of Performance and Visual Culture at Queen Mary University of London, and co-curated by Gilane Tawadros, Director of the Whitechapel Gallery, London and Seán Kissane, Curator: Exhibitions, IMMA. The exhibition is organised in cooperation with Jamal Butt and the Estate of Hamad Butt.

The exhibition will travel to the Whitechapel Gallery, London, from 4 June – 7 September 2025.

Born in Pakistan, and raised in London, Hamad Butt was British South Asian, Muslim, and queer. He was a pioneer of intermedia art, sculptural installation, sci-art and queer diasporic art. A contemporary of the Young British Artists, critics described Butt as epitomising the new ‘hazardism’ in art, he was arguably the first British artist to respond in a non-militant way to HIV/AIDS. This is the first time his work will be shown outside of the UK and the first time his most iconic works are been shown together. The exhibition has been organised by IMMA and Whitechapel Gallery.

As part of the opening celebration IMMA Talks presents a discussion, Hamad Butt’s Apprehensions & Legacies, on Hamad Butt’s life, work and lasting influence. The talk takes place from 5pm to 6.20pm and must be booked separately; click here to book.

An exhibition catalogue, the first significant study of the work of Butt, published by Prestel, will be available to purchase from the IMMA Shop. Price €35.