Anwar Khan

"I wish to realize what the colors have to offer in a certain moment. I wait for the things to happen and pervade my picture space, which was empty before their arrival, and would remain empty if resonances of a happening have not left their marks on it.” The artist has developed for himself an internationally acclaimed technique and idiom that sets him apart from most other Indian contemporary artists and has shown his works in solo exhibitions almost every year from 1986 to 2003. Most of Anwar’s recent works show a clear vertical division of the painted surface with an almost central line, often splitting the paper into two contrasting colors and pulling all the activity on the surface towards it. Anwar grinds his own pigments to make the pastel colors he builds his surface in layers with. Using dry pastels to mark these opaque layers in an almost calligraphic manner and sometimes weaving or pasting painted material or the surface. Anwar creates relief like lyrical pieces that communicate his thoughts and emotions fully.