Marat and Inayat
Graphite,Collage on Paper
28x20 Inches
Sold
Suleman Aqeel Khilji has a uniquely sensitive approach to art. Interested in the idea of transition and noticing the overlooked, Khilji uses a research/process based approach to art making. Some of the many mediums he uses are drawing, painting, printmaking techniques, digital media, film stills, found imagery and photography. Perhaps it was his own relocation to Lahore from his hometown in Baluchistan, but Khilji’s work often examine personal and impersonal notions of dislocation, order and disorder.
Having an acute eye for the human condition, and an ongoing fascination with the human form, Khilji’s recent works string connections between the deeply rich historical photographs and artworks from the Sub-Continent and contemporary times. In ‘Marat and Inayat’ Khilji subtly revisits Inayat Khan, an addict military officer serving the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. Inayat Khan had wasted so terribly because of his drug addiction, that Emperor Jehangir had had his atelier immortalize his emaciated condition in a miniature painting called the ‘The Dying Inayat Khan.’ Khilji, in his paintings, makes comparisons between this historic personality, almost glorified because of his painting, and people he sees every day, around the city who suffer from the same condition but our hidden in this sea of busy, rushing people. Like this, Khilji creates a bridge between time, and a window of stillness between a maddening crowd.
Living and working in Lahore, Pakistan, Suleman Aqeel Khilji holds a BFA from the National College of Art Lahore, with a distinction. He was selected for a student exchange program to Ecole de Beaux Art, Paris.
Photo Credits| Suleman Aqeel Khilji