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’.