Asim Butt — the: ‘Rebel Angel’ comes back to life through his work

His works have been compiled into a book.

KARACHI:

The artist Asim Butt may have died in 2010 but his admirers brought his work to life on Saturday evening.

A monograph on the works of the artist and an auction of his paintings was organised at Canvas Gallery. "It was quite hard for us to let go of his works," admitted the deceased artist's brother, Abid. "We decided to do so because we knew he would have preferred it this way."

Asim would not have liked his work to stay with his family. Rather, he would have wanted people who admired his art to keep it, the brother said.

The rebel angel is a term often used for Asim. In fact, it was the title of his first exhibition held in 2011 — a year after his death. Asim, an unusual artist who used art as a form of protest, cut his life short on January 15, 2010, when he was only 32.

Not an easy decision

Even though the family admitted that Asim did not think them worthy of keeping his works, to finally let go of something he created was not an easy decision. "Asim was very close to us, especially his brother, Ahsan," Asim's mother, Amna Zahid, recalled with tears in her eyes. "He was my middle-child — everything about him was so different!"

She initially did not like the idea of him being an artist but was proud that he made his way through life. "He was such a happy person — talkative and expressive and he always knew everything," she said. Once, the family had a guest, who was pursuing a PhD in anthropology. "She and Asim had such a long conversation that, in the end, she asked him if he was pursuing a PhD himself," she laughed.

When asked about his childhood, Amna said he was never a conventional child who would be interested in activities, such as cricket. He was always an artist, sitting in a corner with his crayons. "We were going to a birthday party once and Asim dressed up as a clown all by himself. He was creative like that."

His admirers

Art critic Marjorie Husain, who was present at the auction, said she wanted to get to know him better. "Asim was a very unusual person," she said. "He was one-of-a-kind, someone who could fearlessly speak his mind."

Husain recalled how Asim spearheaded the Stuckist movement in Pakistan from Karachi. The movement was a call to use art to give a message. Although the movement was British in origin, he took over the streets of Karachi with his bold graffiti work on many walls and some burnt vehicles. "He painted two murals around Abdullah Shah Ghazi's mazaar, which have now been whitewashed."

For Husain, Asim was anything but ordinary. "I know he is now with another famous rebel of an earlier time, Safdar Nagori. Both of them are in a place where there is no time."

Critic and writer Nafisa Rizvi has been deeply touched by Asim's works and believes it should get due recognition. "The work summarised in this book is not even half of what he accomplished in such a short span of time," she said. "He took a road trip from Karachi to Islamabad and documented a film where he spoke to many people along the way." A CD of that film is also part of the book, Rebel Angel.

Writer HM Naqvi has also written a chapter in the book. "Asim Butt stirred affection in many of us," he told The Express Tribune. "All the people who have come out to support him really care about him and have shown it."

Rebel Angel, the book, is now available for Rs5,000.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2014.