Trained as an engineer, Araeen became interested in art making after moving from Karachi to London in 1964. There he saw the sculptures of Anthony Caro, whose use of industrial materials captured his attention. A year later, Araeen resolved on a direction for his own work after noticing the symmetry of I-beam girders that he was drawing. “Things can and should be arranged symmetrically,” he realized, “in order to recognize their equal status.” For Araeen, finding such balance in his compositions was a way of rejecting hierarchies in both art and society.

Gallery label from

415: Hard Edges, Expanded Fields, 2026

Gallery label from Collection: 1940s—1970s, 2019

“The presence of diagonals in my work is not my own creation,” said Araeen, who was influenced by his training as an engineer in Karachi before moving to London in 1964. “They are fundamental to the very formation of the lattice structure in engineering.” Resembling a mathematical equation, this work’s title, (3+4) SR, refers to its three raw and four painted wood lattices; SR stands for “structure” and “relief.” The work features open frameworks arranged in a zigzag pattern. For the artist, work like this modeled his aspiration “to create symmetry within human relationships and other forms of life.”

Medium Wood and painted wood, in 7 parts
Dimensions Overall 67 x 87 x 4" (170 x 221 x 10 cm)
Credit Committee on Painting and Sculpture Funds
Object number 724.2018.a-g
Department Painting & Sculpture

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