Salman Toor spent years copying baroque, rococo and neoclassical paintings before encountering the work of modern South Asian artists: intimate scenes by Amrita Sher-Gil, Bhupen Khakhar’s fantastical night-time visions, Colin David’s melancholy nudes. He has drawn on these disparate influences to develop a style of his own – one that explores the experiences of queer South Asian men. Toor is best known for paintings of nightlife that seem bathed in verdigris, giving them a phantasmagorical air, but more recently he has also explored grimmer subject matter: the experiences of people of colour at airport security checkpoints. Nineteen paintings from across Toor’s career are on view at the Courtauld, a fitting venue for his work: The Bar on East 13th (2019) takes its composition from one of the gallery’s most prized paintings, Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882). Several of Toor’s drawings are on display in a nearby room to give a sense of the draughtsmanship undergirding his paintings.
Find out more from the Courtauld’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary
