Nasser Azam

An image in semi-profile of an adult man with shoulder-length black hair, closely trimmed facial hair and glasses.
Nasser Azam circa 2012

Nasser Azam (born 1963, Jhelum, Pakistan) is a British contemporary artist, living and working in London.

Biography

Nasser Azam was born in Jhelum, Pakistan in 1963, and moved to London with his parents in 1970.[1] He began painting in 1980, and in the same year embarked on a business degree at the University of Birmingham. In 1983 he also featured in a BBC documentary.[2]

In 2007, after an extended period living and travelling in Japan, America and Europe, Azam became Artist-in-Residence at the County Hall Gallery, with an exhibition of early and recent work.[1] Subsequent exhibitions included the 'Anatomica' series of paintings, made from illustrations taken both from fashion magazines and medical textbooks.[3] In 2012 Azam unveiled "Athena" at Silvertown in the London Borough of Newham. Previous sculptural work includes the large bronze sculpture The Dance, unveiled on the South Bank on 21 February 2008 and work for the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, in Dublin.[4]

Azam's semi-abstract style of painting has been compared with that of Willem de Kooning.[5] His paintings show the human figure encoded in bio-morphic forms and gestural marks, and typically use a restricted palette.

In 2010 Azam purchased the Morris Singer Art Foundry and relaunched it as the Zahra Modern Art Foundry.

'Performance Painting' Project 2008–10

Azam preparing his canvases on an ice desert in Antarctica.

Many of Azam's works during the period 2008 to 2010 were made as part of the 'performance painting' project. His purpose was to find the most extreme conditions in which to make paintings, and to use a work of art to document the moment and location in which it was made. In July 2008 Azam completed a project he called Life in Space aboard a specially modified ILYUSHIN 76 MDK parabolic aircraft, where he completed two triptychs, Homage to Francis Bacon: Triptych I and Homage to Francis Bacon: Triptych II while the aircraft created weightless conditions similar to those in space. Azam's 'Life in Space' series of paintings was exhibited in London in Spring 2009.[6]

In February 2010 Azam conducted an artistic expedition to Antarctica, where he produced 13 large abstract oil paintings responding to different Antarctic landscapes, including ice lakes, ice caves, glaciers and ice deserts. Azam prepared for the Antarctica trip with a series of artistic trials in the freezers at Billingsgate Fish Market. The expedition was accompanied by a cameraman to document the mission.

Art Below

In April 2011, Azam, with Art Below, carried out a dual public art display in the Tokyo Metro and London Underground commuters saw a scene of Antarctica and one artist – a dot in the huge icy canvas.[7] In July 2008 Azam completed two triptychs in zero gravity, done as a homage to the artist Francis Bacon. In February 2010, accompanied by a camera crew, Azam to draw inspiration from the frozen tundra of Antarctica where he endured extreme weather conditions to produce a series of large abstract oil paintings. For 2 weeks, Azam's work was on the billboard space of 2 platforms 6000 miles apart in Tokyo's Shibuya station and London's Liverpool Street Station with images of his Antarctica series. Azam commented "I wanted to expose the desolate, silent, spacious and empty environment of the South Pole in probably the most crowded, hectic, busy and noisy space in the world"[8] Accompanying the poster display on the Liverpool Street station platform, Art Below took over a 3 metre wide digital projection screen,[9] piloting an international video link enabling London's travellers to view the Tokyo platform – the poster display and all the public activity going on around it. Playing on the same video loop was a 2-minute film made in collaboration with Bafta nominated British Film Director Ed Blum. Here we see Nasser Azam creating canvasses at temperatures of minus 40 degrees and buffeted by gales, he paints in different settings: on glaciers, by frozen lakes, in ice caves. Nasser says "I am confronted by a magnitude of blinding light, by wind and intense cold." Some of his canvases where lost in an Antarctic gale. But most are here for us to see. Such ordeals need preparation. Azam prepared for this venture in the huge freezer of Billingsgate Butchers Market, devising brushes that would work in such temperatures, and acrylic paint that did not clog. Art Below made the policy decision to persist with this display in Tokyo despite Tsunami, Earthquake and Nuclear fallout. Ben Moore said, "We did this in the sure conviction that Tokyo's commuters will appreciate such a diversion from their adversities. Now is not the time to withdraw our custom." This was the third exhibition they have staged in the Tokyo metro.[8]

Sculptures

Athena, London July 2012

Selected solo exhibitions

Public appearances

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Nasser Azam, Esq Authorised Biography - Debrett's People of Today". debretts.com.
  2. ↑ "BBC Interview, 23 March 1983 - Nasser Azam". YouTube.
  3. ↑ "Anatomica Cognitive compulsion by Nasser Azam on artnet". artnet.com.
  4. ↑ "Sculpture in Context - Contemporary Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition". sculptureincontext.com.
  5. ↑ Stonard, Azam: A Short History of Sensation, London 2008
  6. ↑ Dahabiyeh, Nadia (7 July 2008). "Painter prepares for art in space". BBC News.
  7. ↑ "Art Below Zero". London: independent.co.uk. 19 April 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "ArtBelow". artbelow.org.uk.
  9. ↑ "Liverpool Street Tube station unveils video artwork". BBC News. 5 April 2011.
  10. ↑ Humphries, Will (5 July 2012). "Tallest bronze sculpture in UK unveiled". The Daily Telegraph (London).
  11. ↑ http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/spoken-word/words-on-monday/art-whats-it-good-for
  12. ↑ http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/News/Events/Documents/InsideOut.pdf
  13. ↑ http://www.ica.org.uk/Liliane%20Lijn:%20Power%20Game+20450.twl

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nasser Azam.