Pakistani Artist Salman Toor has been listed among “2021 TIME100 NEXT”, a list revealed by Time Magazine that includes 100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future.
Salman’s profile in the TIME feature says, “In his painting The Star, Salman Toor uses classical techniques—deploying brushstrokes and lighting reminiscent of the 1800s—to render a thoroughly modern scene: a young South Asian man sits backstage in front of a mirror, wearing a furry pink jacket, as a makeup artist and a hairstylist fuss over him. That these contrasts might seem unexpected is exactly the point.
“Toor, who was born in Lahore, Pakistan, and lives in New York City, has made his career subverting the styles of old paintings by centring openly queer men of South Asian descent in an attempt to, as he says in the audio guide for The Star, ‘play with the idea’ of societal norms. Now more people than ever are paying attention: the artist recently secured his first solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, which will be on display through April 2021.”
Priincipal subjects of Toor’s paintings are often South Asian Queer Man.
Dan Macsai, the editorial director of the TIME100, said: “Everyone on this list is poised to make history. And in fact, many already have.”
TIME editor-in-chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal writes in his letter to readers: “Amid a global pandemic, deepening inequality, systemic injustice and existential questions about truth, democracy and the planet itself, the individuals on this year’s list provide ‘clear-eyed hope’.”
TIME100 Next list consists of Artists, Phenoms, Leaders, Advocates, and Innovators.
