Journal | Venezia Arti
Monographic journal issue | 32 | 2023
Research Article | Transformation as an Artistic Strategy in the Work of the Artist Anwar Saeed
Transformation as an Artistic Strategy in the Work of the Artist Anwar Saeed
Abstract
The Pakistani artist Anwar Saeed is best known for his collages, colour-intensive paintings and works of different printing techniques which often explore masculinity and probe the controversial issue of same-sex desire in Muslim South Asia. He is therefore no stranger to self-censorship. Saeed has often had to alter his works so that they could be shown in Pakistan, and has generally learned to tell stories in order to survive. These stories had to be camouflaged, so the motif of the mask along with the complex othering of the self through the staging of animal-human relations entered his artistic iconography and came to play an important role in paintings, collages, drawings, prints and photographs. Many of these works suggest the artist’s concern with conflict between religious and social expectations and gender roles, but they also make a connection with cultural and political identity formation in a country with a short, but very conflicted, history.
Submitted: Sept. 14, 2023 | Accepted: Oct. 20, 2023 | Published Dec. 20, 2023 | Language: en
Keywords Transnational Art • South Asian Art • Contemporary Art • Postwar Print Art • Global Art • Pakistani Art
Copyright © 2023 Simone Wille. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/VA/2385-2720/2023/01/010
