LIKE SHARE SUBSCRIBE explores contemporary art in the era of influencers. When social media is the dominant form of visual culture, how can art practices respond and intervene within this moment? In diasporas or emerging regions, where social media overwhelmingly overpowers other forms of visual expression, how can artists respond to the cultural climate without replicating its aesthetics? The artists in this exhibition confront these questions, finding new forms of pop art and painting in the process. More importantly, these artists resist the descent of culture into kitsch.
The first section of LIKE SHARE SUBSCRIBE explores figurative painting practices that push forward the depiction of people in this current visual landscape. By challenging and reimagining the aesthetics of the digital age, these painters provide new ways of imagining the human form. Featured artists: Ahsan Javaid, Ahsan Memon, Komail Aijazuddin, Shivy Galtere, Tarini Sethi.
The second section of LIKE SHARE SUBSCRIBE specifically examines materiality in an era of digital culture, looking at textile, street art, and mixed media practices that celebrate permanence and physicality in a climate of ephemera. These works engage in larger conversations about influencers and wider popular culture, specifically in South Asia and the diaspora. Through their unique use of materials, these artists speak to a moment where diaspora culture is increasingly defined by social media. Featured artists: Maria Qamar, Navinder Nangla, Preetika Rajgariah, Viraj Khanna.
Many conversations about diasporic culture start with our lack of representation. "I never saw anyone like me on TV," has gone from insight to cliche, an entry-level access point into the realm of marginality. But the grievance still rings true and creator culture promised a solution.
If so many of our ills were rooted in lack of visibility, then content was the cure. The word "representation," used to have various political and aesthetic definitions; these all collapsed into a much more appealing (and more importantly, marketable) proposition.
For the South Asian diaspora, digital media and influencer culture filled a vacuum that other mediums, even while making strides, couldn't outpace. Self-generated content in all its forms became the dominant mode of pop culture for the diaspora. This has done incredible work for the visibility of South Asian people globally, but that visibility comes with challenges.
Defined by platforms that reward replicability and targeted appeal, diasporas receive a limited framework for cultural success. Creator mediums primarily depend on advertising algorithms, and it soon becomes difficult to differentiate self-expression from salesmanship. When marketing no longer serves culture, but becomes the culture itself, relatability and familiarity become aesthetic ideals. Innovation and risk-taking fall out of favor. Cliche risks being elevated to insight.
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Ahsan JavaidSuitable boys, 2024Oil on canvas52 x 59 in -
Ahsan JavaidSecret meeting, 2024Oil on canvas27 x 36 in
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Ahsan MemonDusk II, 2024Oil on canvas48 x 48 in
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Ahsan MemonHallowed II, 2024Oil on canvas48 x 48 in
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Komail AijazuddinHe preferred hanging out with girls , 2024Oil on canvas16 x 20 in
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Komail AijazuddinHe loved a stage , 2024Oil on canvas16 x 20 in
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Komail AijazuddinHe envied their shoes, 2024Oil on canvas
16 x 20 in -
Komail AijazuddinHe yawned at classical music, 2024Oil on canvas11 x 14 in
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Komail AijazuddinHe loved seeing them dress up, 2024Oil on canvas11 x 14 in
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Komail AijazuddinCher, 2024Oil on canvas
16 x 20 in
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Komail AijazuddinMadonna, 2024Oil on canvas
16 x 20 in
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Komail AijazuddinBritney, bitch., 2024Oil on canvas
16 x 20 in
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Shivy GaltereNamasteOil on Canvas62 x 70 inches
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Shivy GaltereLove to Hate, But Love to Buy, 2024Oil on Canvas20 x 16 inches
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Shivy GaltereSpiritual Altar, 2024Oil on Canvas20 x 20 inches
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Tarini SethiSpeaking With The Same Tongue, 2024Acrylic on Linen44 x 65.5 in
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Maria Qamar...QUIT BEING A DARPOK!!, 20248 x 8 in
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Navinder NanglaGOOCHISpray paint on canvas
24 x 32 in -
Navinder NanglaMAISON MARJELLAHSpray paint on canvas
24 x 32 in -
Navinder NanglaYO G YAMAMOTOESpray paint on canvas
24 x 32 in -
Navinder NanglaALIXANDAH MCKWEENSpray paint on canvas
24 x 32 in -
Navinder NanglaVIVIENNE WESTWOULDSpray paint on canvas
24 x 32 in -
Navinder NanglaJAWN PAUL GOAT TIERSpray paint on canvas
24 x 32 in -
Navinder NanglaLOO-WEE VU-TONSpray paint on canvas
24 x 32 in -
Navinder NanglaGIVENSHESpray paint on canvas
24 x 32 in -
Navinder NanglaYOU’VE SAINT LAURENSpray paint on canvas
24 x 32 in -
Preetika Rajgariahbehind my blouse, behind my veil, 2023yoga mat, acrylic, latex, mother’s sari
34" x 48"
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Preetika Rajgariahkeeping the door open, 2023yoga mats, acrylic, latex, vintage saris
68" x 24"
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Preetika Rajgariaha memento, decorated on my forehead, 2023yoga mats, acrylic, latex, market saris
48.5” x 24”
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Viraj KhannaSwiped left on you!, 2024Embroidery on Cotton26 ½ X 35 ¾ in
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Viraj KhannaYou fill up my emptiness :), 2024Embroidery on Cotton
34 ½ X 27 in -
Viraj KhannaCannot eat without Papad, 2024Embroidery on Cotton
34 X 25 ½ in -
Viraj KhannaI want noodles!, 2024Embroidery on Cotton
34 ½ X 25 ½ in -
Viraj KhannaListen to your teachers, 2024French Knot on Cotton
25 ½ x 34 ½ in -
Viraj KhannaDal Makhani is my favourite , 2024Embroidery on Cotton
35 ½ x 34 ½ in
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Viraj KhannaAn hour into the Blind Date, 2024French Knot on Cotton
34 x 28 in
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Viraj KhannaSwiped right on you!, 2024Embroidery on Cotton
26 ½ x 35 ½ in -
Viraj KhannaI cannot find my stuff after you tried to organise my room ! Mom !! , 2024Embroidery on Cotton
34 ½ x 26 in
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Viraj KhannaTree of Life, 2024Embroidery on Cotton
51 x 61 in
AHSAN JAVAID (b. 1992) graduated in Fine Arts (Painting) from National College of Arts, Lahore in 2015. Within this very year, Ahsan’s work got selected for ‘India art award 2016’ and he participated in ‘FIRST KBT-OPP Artists Residency’ and ‘Climate Change and Art – A Practitioner’s Retreat’ art residency in swat. He also attended ‘Capacity Building and Knowledge Transfer on Preventive Preservation and Basic Conservation of Art in Pakistan’ in the same year. He is a resident artist at studio RM and teaches drawing as well. Ahsan has also been awarded with Arjumand Painting award 2021. He has been exhibiting his work in various shows with in the country. Javaid lives and works in Lahore, Pakistan.
AHSAN MEMON (b. 1989) is a highly accomplished art practitioner from Lahore, Pakistan. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree from the esteemed National College of Arts, Lahore, where he received the distinguished Distinction award in 2016. Ahsan further pursued and completed his Master of Arts (MA) in Visual Arts from the same institution in 2019.
Ahsan has consistently exhibited exceptional artistic works on national and international platforms. Notable exhibitions featuring his art include Witness, a prominent display as part of Karachi Biennale 01 in 2017; Cross Borders, curated by Quddus Mirza at the Swiss Ambassadors Residence in Islamabad in 2018; and A Site for Sight, a significant collateral event of the Lahore Biennale 02 in 2019.
Ahsan has also been privileged to participate in several prestigious art residencies, including the ISL Artist Residency and the Pioneer Art Residency, both curated by the renowned Canvas Gallery in Karachi in 2017. He contributed to Taaza Tareen 8, an esteemed residency program organised by the Vasl Artist Collective in Karachi in 2016.
Recognised for his exceptional talent, Ahsan has received numerous prestigious awards, such as the Young Artist Award in the renowned annual exhibition About Time held at Alhamra Art Gallery, Lahore, in 2015. In 2008, he was recognised in the Benazir Bhutto Painting Competition at the Mehran Arts Council in Larkana.
KOMAIL AIJAZUDDIN (b. 1984) is a visual artist and writer. He holds degrees in Art & Art History from New York University and an MFA from the Pratt Institute, NY. His debut book "Manboobs: A memoir of Musicals, Visas, Hope & Cake" is coming Fall 2024, published by Abrams Press (US) and Transworld/DoubleDay Books (Internationally). He lives and works in New York City.
MARIA QAMAR (b. 1991, Karachi, Pakistan) is a first-generation Canadian from a traditional South Asian family. She moved to Canada at the age of nine in 2001 and was forced to endure bullying and racism as a young girl in a post 9/11 Toronto. Qamar found her artistic voice through Instagram where her illustrations resonated with the Desi community, particularly the second generation. Art became a means for her to handle realities of being brown and South Asian in an early 2000s North American context. Her work is collected by Mindy Kaling and was featured on The Mindy Project. She is an Instagram sensation and the author of the Trust No Aunty published in 2017. Her artwork has been shown in the AGO in Toronto, Mumbai Comicon, and the Oxo Tower Wharf in London, England. She has been featured on NPR, CBC, HarpersBAZAAR.com, and in The Toronto Star, FLARE Magazine, Bon Apetit and several other publications. Maria currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada.
NAVINDER NANGLA is an artist, designer, and stylist who utilizes the mediums of art and fashion to convey his unique language and interpretation of the world he inhabits
Navinder’s most noteworthy works. “FASSION LANGWITCH” is a powerful expression of his artistic identity, breaking free from the constraints of dyslexia. Transforming global cities like London, New Yorkers, Mumbai, Paris & South Korea into his canvases, Navinder’s work has resonated with diverse audiences. Notable figures such as Michelle Lamby (fashion designer), Rankin (photographer), Kris Van Assche (fashion designer), Imran Amed (founder - The Business of Fashion), & Mia Khalifa (influencer) have championed his art, sharing it widely on social media.
Recently, Navindar has translated his street art into experimental canvases, he boasts an eclectic catalogue of work, that offers a captivating glimpse into his multifaceted artistic vision.
Previous clients include Gucci, Converse & Levi’s, Navinder has already began merging the worlds he intersects in exciting ways.
His most recent award saw him honoured by Vogue India as a force of fashion 2023 in Mumbai.
PREETIKA RAJGARIAH (b. 1985) is a queer multidisciplinary artist whose works examine the complicated intersections of cultural + queer identity, nostalgia, and capitalist consumption while referencing her traditional upbringing as an Indian born, Texas raised American. She has been in residence at the Momentary, Oxbow, ACRE, Vermont Studio Center, and the School of Visual Arts NYC, and she has exhibited and performed in spaces such as Material Art Fair in Mexico City, Untitled Miami Basel, the Asia Society Texas Center, Roots & Culture and the Donnelley Foundation in Chicago, the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts and SOMArts in San Francisco, Women & Their Work in Austin, and Diverseworks Houston. She received her MFA from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and currently lives and works in Houston, TX.
SHIVY GALTERE was born in London, UK and after 6 years in Brooklyn, NY now resides in Los Angeles. Her work references intimate self portraiture, exploring themes of identity and grief. She has recently started exploring her struggles with brand culture, the wellness industry and digital space. Her practice has expanded from acrylic to large scale oil painting.
TARINI SETHI (b 1989, India) creates work that focuses on themes of world building, mythology, folk stories, dream worlds and sexual emancipation. Created in direct response to my understanding of declining mental health, skepticism of current political discourse, dread of communalism, and distress at the destruction of the natural world, I attempt to make art that defies these realities. Her subjects –some quite human, some quite animal, but none clearly one or the other – fight and ponder, observe and converse, love and luxuriate, often within labyrinthine physical spaces and multi limbed anthropomorphic anatomies. In this world, bodies are freed from the ideas attached to the conventional notion of gender, perfection and beauty. As a woman from India, existing in a space of extreme sexual oppression, and constant scrutiny, I try to focus as much as possible on the idea that bodies can exist as perfect vessels for exploration, action and sexual emancipation. Taking cues from a range of artistic practices spanning the length of the subcontinent, specifically Kalighat, Miniature, Kavad and Tholu Bommalata, she uses these themes and ideas to bring my utopia to life. These themes are explored through a multimedia practice that includes paintings, drawings, and metal sculptures. Sethi currently lives in New Delhi, India.
VIRAJ KHANNA (b. 1995, Kolkata, West Bengal, India) is a visual artist from India who primarily works with the medium of textile. He studied Business Administration at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles in 2018. Khanna's works have been exhibited in solo shows at the LOFT, Gallery Art Exposure, Kolkata (2021); Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai (2022) ; the India Art Fair (2023) and recently at the National Gallery of Modern Art Mumbai (2023). He is currently pursuing his MFA at the Art Institute of Chicago.
