Irfan Hasan

Born in 1982 in Karachi (Pakistan)
Lives and works in Lahore (Pakistan)

Irfan Hasan obtained his BFA (with Distinction) from the National College of Arts, Lahore majoring in Indo-Persian miniature painting in 2006, winning the award for ‘Best Young Painter’ from the Punjab Arts Council the next two successive years. He has also attended a variety of residencies, such as: Art OMI, New York; Storefront Artist Project, Massachusetts; Vasl Artist’s Collective, Karachi; and the Commonwealth Connection International Fellowship at GCAC, Kolkata. Hasan has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions, both nationally and internationally. He is currently teaching at the National College of Arts, Lahore. His art practice absorbs both eastern and western influences; his training as a miniaturist has shaped his technical practice, yet the canonical European portraiture has been his point of reference. In the artist’s words, “My works are an homage to the portraiture of the European masters and the practice of stylization within Indo­Persian miniature painting; a personal synthesis of aspects of classical portraiture and miniature painting.”

Hasan’s painting for the Karachi Biennale 2017, Holy Man, epitomises his artistic practice. His work is a tribute to Abu’l Hasan Khan Ghaffari Kashani, commonly known as Sani ol molk, one of the master watercolourists in the Qajar court in Iran. In his emulation of Sani ol molk’s works, Hasan has utilised a traditional technique of Mughal and Persian miniature painting – hand-ground opaque watercolour and gouache on paper. However, the subject of Hasan’s portrait is represented in profile and naturalistically, forcibly recalling the portraiture of Piero della Francesca. This reveals Holy Man as an intersection of art historical influences, synthesised by Hasan as the contemporary mediator. Indeed, it is a fitting homage to Sani ol molk, who himself spent four years in Italy, studying the works of Italian masters, before returning to the Shah’s court. Hasan’s performative painting, Self-portrait, is also part of the Karachi Biennale 2017.