Saira Wasim
Encyclopedia
Saira Wasim is a noted contemporary artist from Lahore
, Pakistan
. She currently lives in US. Wasim uses the miniature style of painting, pioneered by the Persians but extensively used in South Asia
, to make primarily political and cultural art. Wasim's art has been showcased in a number of premiere museums including the Whitney Museum of American Art
, Brooklyn Museum of Art, and Asian Art Museum
.
. She belongs to the Ahmadiyya
Muslim Community. Ms. Wasim has recently noted that persecution as an Ahmadiyya, was key in shaping her artistic perspectives. She has as of yet hesitated to address the topic in her art.
Ms. Wasim went to National College of Arts (in Lahore), from where she graduated with a Bachelors in Fine Arts with focus in miniature painting in 1999.
Ms. Wasim has held positions as a Visiting Artist at numerous important places including
Saira's pet political topics are commenting on the vast chasm that exists between the West and the Islamic world, repression within Islamic world, and the new Western cultural imperialism.
"My work uses the contemporary miniature form to explore social and political issues that divide the modern world. This series, Battle for Hearts and Minds, illustrates the clash between imperialism in the west and fundamentalism in the east, and questions the underlying motivations and uneasy alliances that keep this conflict going.
My work offers a voice against this ignorance and prejudice. It pleas for social justice, respect, and tolerance through the use of caricature and satire." [Asia Society, http://www.asiasociety.org/arts/onewayoranother/oneway3.html#Saira ]
New York Times describes her work as "exquisite political cartoons that conjure William Hogarth
and sometimes borrow directly from Norman Rockwell
."
Two-Person Shows
Selected Group Exhibitions:
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, Pakistan
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...
. She currently lives in US. Wasim uses the miniature style of painting, pioneered by the Persians but extensively used in South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
, to make primarily political and cultural art. Wasim's art has been showcased in a number of premiere museums including the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, Brooklyn Museum of Art, and Asian Art Museum
Asian Art Museum
Asian Art Museum is the usual name for a number of museums, including:* The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco* The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, located on the National Mall in Washington DC...
.
Biography
Ms. Wasim was born in Lahore, PakistanPakistan
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...
. She belongs to the Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious revivalist movement founded in India near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as...
Muslim Community. Ms. Wasim has recently noted that persecution as an Ahmadiyya, was key in shaping her artistic perspectives. She has as of yet hesitated to address the topic in her art.
Ms. Wasim went to National College of Arts (in Lahore), from where she graduated with a Bachelors in Fine Arts with focus in miniature painting in 1999.
Ms. Wasim has held positions as a Visiting Artist at numerous important places including
- 2003 Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney Museum of American ArtThe Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, New York - 2003 University of Maryland, College ParkUniversity of Maryland, College ParkThe University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
- 2004 Smith CollegeSmith CollegeSmith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
, Massachusetts - 2005 Oklahoma State University
Artistic Approach
Saira Wasim draws Persian Miniatures to make devastating political commentary. Using traditional art to make modern commentary has proliferated within the Asian contemporary art world with artists like Chottu Lal, and Rageshwar Singh using the folk and religious traditions to make art.Saira's pet political topics are commenting on the vast chasm that exists between the West and the Islamic world, repression within Islamic world, and the new Western cultural imperialism.
"My work uses the contemporary miniature form to explore social and political issues that divide the modern world. This series, Battle for Hearts and Minds, illustrates the clash between imperialism in the west and fundamentalism in the east, and questions the underlying motivations and uneasy alliances that keep this conflict going.
My work offers a voice against this ignorance and prejudice. It pleas for social justice, respect, and tolerance through the use of caricature and satire." [Asia Society, http://www.asiasociety.org/arts/onewayoranother/oneway3.html#Saira ]
New York Times describes her work as "exquisite political cartoons that conjure William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
and sometimes borrow directly from Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
."
Shows
Solo Shows:- 2005. ‘Political Carousel’ South Western University, Texas.
Two-Person Shows
- 2004 Transcendent contemplations, green cardamom @ Hosain, London with Hasnat Mahmood (Catalogue)
- 2003 Rohtas 2 Gallery, Lahore with Waseem Ahmad
Selected Group Exhibitions:
- ‘Double Conscience’ at Mattress Factory Museum Pitsburg – 2007
- ‘One way or another Asian American art now’ at Asia Society New York -2006 (catalogue)
- ‘Karkhana’: a Contemporary Collaboration at Asian Art Museum San Francisco, USA-2006
- American Effect, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (catalogue) - 2003
- 125th Celebrations of National College of Arts and Millennium exhibition in National College of Arts Gallery, Pakistan- 2000
External links
- Official website
- BBC article on Saira Wasim and Hasnat Mehmood
- Tribune India newspaper article on Saira Wasim
- Short biography - Australian National University
- Profile on Saira Wasim's Art
- Brooklyn Rail profile on Saira Wasim
- NY Times article on Saira Wasim
- Review of Karkhana exhibition by NY Times
- Review of Saira Wasim's work on AltMuslim
- Interview with Saira Wasim detailing early years, family, influences