Two artists pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth through truck art

Two artists have painted a huge mural of the late Queen Elizabeth II in the indigenous truck art-form on the boundary wall of a container yard on Maulvi Tameezuddin Khan Road to pay tribute to the ‘most iconic monarch of our times’ on her death.

After reigning for over seven decades, the queen died on September 8 at 96. Painted by artists Tariq Khan and Naveed Shehzad, the mural bears all the hallmarks of the folk truck art – bright colours, flower patterns encircling the queen’s portrait and peacocks.

“It took us three days to paint the seven-foot-high and 10-foot-wide portrait,” Khan told The News. “We have been seeing Queen Elizabeth II from our childhood and had a longstanding desire to paint her portrait in the truck art-form and present it to her during her lifetime at the Buckingham Palace,” the 45-year-old artist said. “After we heard the shocking news of the queen’s demise, we decided to honour her with a mural as a tribute and express condolence on behalf of the entire Pakistani nation.”

Khan regretted that though they had visited various countries to showcase their art but had not got any recognition or support at the government-level in their own country. He demanded that the government extend financial support to them and recognise their contribution to the field of art. Shehzad explained that oil paints had been used in the portrait that would last as long as water seepage and moisture did not affect the mural or it was faded by the sunlight.