Waqas Khan review – a message of love gently invades Manchester from outer space

Manchester Art Gallery
Intricately crafted using millions of pen marks, the Lahore artist’s epic, shimmering drawings capture stars, galaxies, mountains and moons. He is worthy of comparisons with Rothko and Mondrian

‘Khushamdeed” means “welcome”. This Urdu word, also recognised in Persian and Arabic, has gently invaded Manchester, glowing in neon at the entrances to three of its museums. Waqas Khan, who created this public artwork, hopes it will reassure people there is nothing to be scared of in Manchester’s cultural sanctums. Even if you don’t read Urdu, you somehow understand it is a message of love.

So accept the welcome. Pass under the Khushamdeed sign and enter Manchester Art Gallery, where Khan’s first solo show in Britain is a visionary voyage to the ends of the universe and the depths of the soul. Stars and galaxies, moons and mountains shimmer in his extraordinary drawings – or do they?

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