Book ‘Rebel Angel’ launched

Islamabad
‘Rebel Angel’, a highly collectible book on the late but unforgettable young artist Asim Butt was launched by his mother Amna Zahid, his family and the Khaas and Kuch Khaas teams to celebrate the life and art of this brilliant, talented young artist whose last solo exhibition took place at the gallery in 2009.
The launching ceremony opened with the screening of a video on Asim Butt, talking passionately about his creative philosophy and thoughts, and sharing his visual theory as he saw the street as a space where art could be further explored. He talked about humanity as his yardstick to measure all ethics of life. The video shows Asim fearlessly sketching socio-political issues through murals and graffiti wherever he went during his journey, challenging religious bigotry, orthodox beliefs, rebelling against Islamisation and militarisation of Pakistani public spaces.
His journey was aimed to make his contribution to Pakistan by trying to feel the pulse of the people and record whatever is happening around and whatever the people are talking about through his work. The video is all about his creative journey from Karachi to Islamabad and documented as a film where he spoke to people along the way. He delved into the personal and the political with relative ease as he talked to people on various issues and everything that they shared with Asim without any inhibition or fear.
The film called ‘Graffiti Yatra’ explores his travels within the country, during which he stencilled his graffiti on many walls. A CD of that film is also part of the book, ‘Rebel Angel’.
Asim is remembered as an unusual artist who used art as a form of protest, cut his life short on January 15, 2010, when he was only 32. The artist Asim Butt may have died some years back, but his admirers brought his work to life on Tuesday evening at Khaas.
An interesting discussion followed the video screening on the book with Critics and Curators Zishan Afzal Khan, Nafisa Rizvi, Sheherbano Husain, and Aasim Akhtar.
Asim’s mother Amna Zahid said that a Trust has been established in his name to support the cause of education and health care, and the proceeds from the book would go to the trust.
‘Rebel Angel’ is a monograph on the peerless artist Asim Butt. Edited by Nafisa Rizvi, the book features the rich body of work the artist produced during his short but incredible career. Richly illustrated and packed with essays, ‘Rebel Angel’ explores not just the artist’s quest to paint but also his interest in painting. Its compilation could be perceived as a challenge but nevertheless bold in execution and emotion.
Asim Butt was a relentless visual theorist, endlessly engaged with the process and history of painting. He was not just a practicing artist but also an avid theoretical researcher. The monograph includes an essay written by the artist himself on the comparative analysis of art and illustration. The essay, which has never before been published addresses issues close to the artist, while examining the histories and criticism of Eastern and Western art practices.
The monograph includes most of his work, even those that were left unfinished.
These are further supported with essays written by those who knew the artist professionally and personally. That is not to say that the publication offers just personal perspectives but, in fact, has been compiled for a larger audience. The drawings reproduced in the monograph are mostly in charcoal, pencil and ink and while research and ideas of many can be determined in his oil on canvas paintings.
The book also carries Asim’s poetic expression about his creativity that pretty much sums up his philosophy of life, ‘I paint because it allows me to stare shamelessly, To be able to flesh out an idea, emotion or commit to an image, a shadow of the world around me...I paint to create what it is I want to see, To fill an absence in the world’.