Silent explosions

Born in Libya, raised in Karachi, American artist Fawad Khan's works bring into play personal experiences of aggressive militaristic society through automobiles

He paints large American muscle cars, ornamented Pakistani buses with pomegranates. While the fruit might remind one of Salvador Dali's 1944 work, it is Fawad Khan's whimsy Volkswagen Transporters, Citroens and Peugeots that recite the artist's mediation on violence and identity. The Road Takenu00a0-- the first solo exhibition by the artist, is poised to visit Delhi in a few days and questions the use of automobiles as tools of destruction.


The Road Taken: Acrylic on canvas

Ghosts from the past
Khan's father was a Pakistani Major stationed at a military base in Tripoli (Libya) where he was born. Raised in Karachi, Pakistan, he moved to the US at the age of eight. His fascination with images from oppressive and aggressive militaristic cultures springs from this past. The works in gouache, acrylic, ink, collage and animation comment on the violent imagery on television, online and in the newspapers, constantly shelled upon us. "For me, the collective conversation in the work is reflecting on car bombing, acts of insurgency, political and economic upheaval," he says.

Perplexing commentary
A certain sense of ambiguity is a vital constituent of Khan's work. Camouflaged forms, an almost constant company, are indicative of military attendance both from the Western and Eastern perspective. In a series titled Fools Rush In, the American Muscle cars are cast upside down amidst debris in non-descript topography. Perilous Commute is a clean silhouette of a decorated bus on white negative space with camouflaged forms and smoke clouds around leaping out of a chaotic Pakistani street. "It's evident my works can appear vague at first. Even in their execution, using vibrant, attractive colours to woo the viewer into what unfolds to be a more dark, perplexing commentary," he says, demystifying.

Censor radaru00a0
Khan's explosions on his canvas are excessive but completely flameless. That doesn't seem to convince authorities for the artist is yet to be granted a visa to visit India to attend the preview of his exhibition. "The reasons here are still uncertain. With my background, US citizenship, and extensive travels in recent years, it's obvious I would be 'under review'. But I am more concerned with the issue of censorship, as the consulate and embassy I believe have seen my works," he says. Thankfully, while bureaucracy has stopped the artist from crossing physical barriers, his work has remained unstoppable and reached our shores.

AT: Shrine Empire Gallery, 7 Friends Colony (West)
WHEN: September 3 to October 1
TIMINGS: 6 to 9pm