ARTIST AND FOUNDER OF THE MARIA IQBAL BRAND MARIA IKBAL LOVES AMERICAN POP ART, JAPANESE ANIME AND BRILLIANT'S BRIGHT PAINT. MAIN IDEA OF ITS CREATIVITY: OPPOSITIONS COME PERFECTLY.
Rise from depth
Maria was born in Afghanistan, where from childhood she was fond of art and cinema. Then she moved to Dubai, here her father was engaged in interior design and the construction industry. After she went to conquer the United States, where she received citizenship and worked for 10 years in the advertising business. From that rare breed of beautiful and successful girls, Maria always looked not in boutiques and cafes in an unfamiliar city, but in shops of fabrics and accessories to manage to create from them cushion covers with prints, drawings of crying girls in sunglasses, and clutches with portraits of icons style-Karl Lagerfeld, Lana Del Rey and Cara Delevingne. The fateful in her career was a trip to India, where she definitely decided to devote herself only to art. And made the right choice. Today, her Afghan-American art is in great demand by art gallery owners.
In 2011, Maria decided to return to Dubai and open her studio, Maria Iqbal Art. No one then suggested that her glorious career would begin with experiments with Italian chairs, the soft backs and seats of which she would adorn with prints of skulls, bright red lips and acid-green nails, proclaiming the slogans “Fashion is art” and “Shopping is better than tears " “I always worried that I could fail in a new project,” says Maria. “Perhaps my fears reflect my personal experience of living in the USA, where people hold on tight to their jobs and are afraid of losing them. Alas, there are few who want to take risks doing business. "
The revolution occurred when, after graduating from the Miami Ad School in Miami and the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Maria decided to specialize in pop art. The Color Me Crazy collection is a vision of an artist in Dubai, East Paris, a fantasy on the theme of Chanel on a Camel. Her art speaks of depth and inner dignity, fueled by the favorite soundtrack of Let's Break Up from the film "Dear Zindagi" by Gauri Shinde. However, the most coveted paintings of the curators of the exhibitions - “The Bride of Popzilla”, “Ahmad and Amir”, “Betty and Veronika”, “Crazy Ladies” - are built on the artist’s passion for Bollywood films (her favorite actor is Shah Rukh Khan) and Japanese anime. Maria especially emphasizes that the grotesque and “deification” of persons is her favorite artistic device in the series of portraits “Amira loves Chanel”, “Afghan girl”, “My husband is richer”, “Viva Veronica” and many others. By the way, in 2014, Maria Iqbal received the "Women Of The Year" award for her unique contribution to the contemporary art and culture of the Emirates.
Fashion meets Art
The income from Maria’s talent and commercial acumen allowed her to create a small fashion empire and her own style of clothing called "trippy pop art", which will clearly please fashionistas. Today she works with individual orders, transforming any of your items into a completely unique art object, whether it be bags, shoes or dresses. She is also immersed in the process of creating her own fashion collection, which she plans to present in Dubai in a couple of months. Many believe that the girl made a coup, returning to her hometown of Dubai, where she managed to conclude successful deals with tailors, upholstered furniture upholsters, carpenters and artists who helped her talent unfold to its full potential. "I must admit that I did not think that I would love Dubai so much. It is an amazing city where modern art and fashion are encouraged. Somewhere in Paris or New York it is almost impossible for young designers to break through, but Dubai always meets any talents."
Having earned a reputation for a special attitude to quality, the designer expanded her line, also launching the release of ultramodern dresses from the Painted Ladies collection with the inscription "Baby, I love you too, too late!", Manolo-NYC shoes, fluffy "skirts for the princess of pop music "Maria-Margarita and Happy on My Skin handkerchiefs that turn into skirts in seconds. As for the Maria Iqbal clothing collection, among its advantages, we would call convenience and practicality. It is tailored in the best traditions of pop art of the 50-60s, in the spirit of freedom, youth and beauty.
Recently, Mercedes-Benz invited Maria Iqbal to participate in the #ShesMercedes project, where her video made a splash and collected 5.3 million views. Many girls from Afghanistan wrote to Mary that she inspired them for their own development. “I realized that I have the opportunity to speak with young girls from Afghanistan, because I also experienced a difficult experience of becoming,” says Maria. “Yes, I got traditional education, I know the constant struggle for survival. In my works I want to show that women can live the life they deserve and do what they really like. " Today, least of all in the world, Maria would like to create sad works, so with the help of bright colors she talks about the important problems in the world that concern her. And her brand Maria Iqbal - inexpensive things in which you can look luxurious - is rapidly gaining fans around the world
Text: Igor Shevkun
