Kong – The Tragic Anti-Hero
Engraved drawing on vinyl
60×72 inches
2012
Unavailable
For this work, I have chosen one of the world’s most famous movie icons, King Kong and have used soft toy that can be held in the palm of one’s hand rendered in an enormous scale to show the monstrous aspect. This character can be seen both as a rampaging monster and a tragic anti-hero. For me, this variation in its perception has a very clear parallel to today’s world. I believe that the life of this fictional character on a big screen has similarities connecting with the age we live in. A giant gorilla, which was captured, caged and exhibited as the ‘Eighth wonder of the world’, escaped and terrorized New York City, shot and killed by the aircraft, provoked me to pay homage to this magnificent beast who has never felt a single bit of empathy for another living creature in his long life.
Zafar associates his childhood memories and his perpetual dealing with subjects for children as the core of his imagery development. He symbolizes this bandaging manipulation as the delusive ipseity. He alters the dainty characteristic by transforming the identity of the object, driving it into the rather serious orientation. Whereas, his flamboyant command over the painstaking patterned strokes may appear principled to miniaturesque craftsmanship, the enormous scale of the work and his indulgence in almost a signature media to himself, segregates him from the league of contemporary miniature artists. Paradoxically, the surface revealing technique is contrary to the covert visual he creates.
Adeel uz Zafar was born in 1975, in Karachi, Pakistan. He is an artist, illustrator and art educator. Zafar holds a BFA (Distinction) from National College of Arts, Lahore (1998). His works have been featured in several national and international group exhibitions. Adeel uz Zafar currently works and resides in Karachi.
Photo Credits | Jamal Ashiqain