Fahd Burki’s paintings, prints and sculptures are inspired by a spectrum of interests, ranging from primitive archetypes, iconography and science fiction, to early-Modernist paintings by Paul Klee and traditional, figurative miniature painting in South Asia. They embody a synthesis of different aesthetic forms. The compositions employ figures that are constructed rigorously—yet economically—using flat graphic colours, and always set in a monochromatic ground.

Often making his artworks in series, Burki has created a lexicon of different symbols, totemic forms and personalities. Together with their titles that are predominantly single-worded, like Believer or Optimist, they allude to moral or ideological dimensions, while ruling out a fixed interpretation. These characters, which coexist in the same universe, fluctuate between body and monument.

Fahd Burki is based in Lahore.
Fahd Burki’s works are presented at Göteborgs Konsthall.

Photo
Optimist and installation view WheredoIendandyoubegin – On Secularity, Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art 2017, Göteborgs Konsthall. Photo Hendrik Zeitler.