My artwork & interview was recently published on The Huffington Post. Here’s an excerpt.
Warhol, Pollock … Khan? American Muslims in the Arts
By Engy Abdelkadir
September 1, 2012
…
Faraz Khan, 36, is a visual artist from Princeton, New Jersey who creates Islamic art and calligraphy with a contemporary touch combining ink and acrylics.
“My work incorporates Arabic calligraphy with modern colorful themes and explores religious and secular themes,” explains Khan.
A native of Pakistan, Khan first discovered his fascination with art during a trip to Syria where he immersed himself in the country’s history, culture and language. In 2009, he formally began his professional art career.
“I have always been searching for ways to inspire and be inspired by work of faith. Art enables me to leave behind a trail of my struggle to create something meaningful even after I am gone,” says Khan of his chosen career path.
And he has excelled.
Khan recently conducted an art class at Princeton University. It concluded with a collaborative group project: a mural transliterating into Arabic calligraphy more than 200 names of the college’s streets, buildings, famous graduates and halls. The mural, which includes the names of Princeton alumnae Woodrow Wilson and John F. Kennedy, now hangs on campus.
Further, a commissioned piece for the Witherspoon Institute incorporated Arabic calligraphy in quoting a verse from the Quran: “There is no compulsion in religion, truth has been made manifest over falsehood.”
“The artwork, based on the Quranic verse, employed a unique style of Arabic calligraphy to adorn a book cover and website about Islam and religious freedom sponsored by the Witherspoon Institute,” touts Khan. “The book will be published in 15 different world languages to celebrate religious pluralism as defined in Islam.”
Khan’s art “No Compulsion” was first showcased this past summer at a week-long seminar held at the Princeton Theological Seminary. It was a significant moment for him.
“Through my art, I had the opportunity to highlight for a universal audience that religion should be a positive energy that creates beauty and order, not chaos and coercion,” says Khan. “And the verse from the Quran captured that high ideal of religious freedom as guaranteed in the American Constitution.