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Atif
Khan

Born in Sahiwal, Pakistan in 1972, Atif
Khan graduated in Fine Art from the National College of Arts in Lahore.
In 1999 he was awarded the UNESCO-ASHBURG Bursary and completed a
residency at Darat-al-Funun in Amman, Jordan. Following his success
there and his reputation as a highly qualified teacher and printmaker at
National College of Arts in Lahore, Atif Khan was appointed as artist in
residence at Swansea Print Workshop from November 2005 for three months.
He has exhibited throughout Asia and in USA, Finland, Germany and
Poland. His work features in collections in the Bradford Museum, U.K.,
in Darat-al-Funun, Amman, Jordan and the Arab Bank, and the Presidency
in Islamabad.
(click on thumbnails below to view
larger images)


One aspect of today’s Pakistani culture
is that we are surrounded by images. This abundance of images is
something unprecedented in history. People are controlled by images
without being aware of it, as images are the most powerful tools of
persuasion in the consumerist era. I cannot ignore the strong presence
of these images around us, so I am using these popular images as the
tool of my expression.
Traditional Moghal miniature-paintings
and popular images from the everyday life are my sources of inspiration.
By juxtaposing images from these diverse sources, I try to subvert their
original contextual meanings and give new meanings and insights into
contemporary Pakistani life and its social and political issues.
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