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Asim Butt (artist)
Encyclopedia
Asim Butt was a Pakistan
i painter and sculptor, with an interest in graffiti
and printmaking
. He was also a member of the Stuckism International
art movement
.
. He attended Li Po Chun United World College
. He started painting at an early age, but at his parents' insistence, went to college, where he studied Social Sciences from the Lahore University of Management Sciences
. He began a Ph.D. in History at UC Davis in California, but left the course after two years, when he participated in a group show mounted at the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery in March 2002 with Rigo '02 and LYRIC. He then returned to enroll in a B.F.A. in Painting in Karachi.
He participated in group shows in Karachi and Lahore, and in 2003 painted two murals in the environs of the shrine to the 8th Century Sufi saint Abdullah Shah Ghazi
. This is an area visited by many people each day and also home to many of Karachi's homeless, including beggars, transsexuals and drug addicts. One mural, about America's Shock and Awe campaign in Iraq, was called, 5 Ways to Kill a Man, inspired by Edwin Brock
's poem. The other was about glue-sniffing children he encountered, while painting the first mural. Both murals were later whitewashed by city authorities.
In 2005, Butt founded the Karachi chapter of the Stuckist
art movement. That year he did three interactive performative pieces, one of which sought to claim the Mohatta Palace Museum as a lived space, resulting in his being banned from it. In 2006, he graduated from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi. In 2007, he participated in group shows, 13 Satellites (Lahore), Emerging Talent (Karachi) and Sohni Dharti, part of the Shanaakht festival at the Karachi Arts Council.
He spoke out against the imposition of emergency regulations
in November 2007 by starting an "art protest" movement—spray-stencilling graffiti
of an "eject" symbol of a red triangle over a red rectangle, an image which has now become widespread in Karachi. Butt said it was a representation to:
He was caught on two occasions and claimed it was school art project work. He says that people's dignity has been overtaken by the predominant social and economic power of the military.
He lived in Karachi's affluent Defence Housing Authority neighbourhood with his parents.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i painter and sculptor, with an interest in graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
and printmaking
Printmaking
Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
. He was also a member of the Stuckism International
Stuckism
Stuckism is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting in opposition to conceptual art...
art movement
Art movement
An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time, or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined within a number of years...
.
Life and work
Asim Butt was born in KarachiKarachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
. He attended Li Po Chun United World College
Li Po Chun United World College
Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong , established in 1992, is a sixth-form college in Hong Kong. It is a member of the United World Colleges....
. He started painting at an early age, but at his parents' insistence, went to college, where he studied Social Sciences from the Lahore University of Management Sciences
Lahore University of Management Sciences
The Lahore University of Management Sciences, usually referred to by its acronym LUMS, is a university located in Lahore, Pakistan. LUMS was established in 1984 by a group of industrialists and people belonging to Pakistan's leading private and public sector corporations, to provide rigorous...
. He began a Ph.D. in History at UC Davis in California, but left the course after two years, when he participated in a group show mounted at the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery in March 2002 with Rigo '02 and LYRIC. He then returned to enroll in a B.F.A. in Painting in Karachi.
He participated in group shows in Karachi and Lahore, and in 2003 painted two murals in the environs of the shrine to the 8th Century Sufi saint Abdullah Shah Ghazi
Abdullah Shah Ghazi
Abdullah Shah Ghazi is considered to be patron saint of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. He is widely revered in Pakistan. His tomb is also a revered Sindhi shrine especially for the Bawarij Sindhi Muslims and the Samma tribe....
. This is an area visited by many people each day and also home to many of Karachi's homeless, including beggars, transsexuals and drug addicts. One mural, about America's Shock and Awe campaign in Iraq, was called, 5 Ways to Kill a Man, inspired by Edwin Brock
Edwin Brock
Edwin Brock was a British poet. Brock wrote two of the best-known poems of the last century, Five Ways to Kill a Man and Song of the Battery Hen.-Early life:...
's poem. The other was about glue-sniffing children he encountered, while painting the first mural. Both murals were later whitewashed by city authorities.
Stuckism
Stuckism is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting in opposition to conceptual art...
art movement. That year he did three interactive performative pieces, one of which sought to claim the Mohatta Palace Museum as a lived space, resulting in his being banned from it. In 2006, he graduated from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi. In 2007, he participated in group shows, 13 Satellites (Lahore), Emerging Talent (Karachi) and Sohni Dharti, part of the Shanaakht festival at the Karachi Arts Council.
He spoke out against the imposition of emergency regulations
2007 Pakistani state of emergency
A state of emergency was declared by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on November 3, 2007, and lasted until December 15, 2007,during which time the constitution of Pakistan was suspended....
in November 2007 by starting an "art protest" movement—spray-stencilling graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
of an "eject" symbol of a red triangle over a red rectangle, an image which has now become widespread in Karachi. Butt said it was a representation to:
He was caught on two occasions and claimed it was school art project work. He says that people's dignity has been overtaken by the predominant social and economic power of the military.
He lived in Karachi's affluent Defence Housing Authority neighbourhood with his parents.