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Sanki King
King in 2015
Born
Abdullah Ahmed Khan

1990 (age 33–34)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
NationalityPakistani
Known for Graffiti, Public art, Stenciling, Parkour, Bboying
Website sankiking.com

Abdullah Ahmed Khan ( Urdu: عبداللہ احمد خان, born 1990) [1] professionally known as Sanki or Sanki King ( Urdu: سنکی /sʌnkiː/ ⓘ) is a Pakistani artist who is considered one of the pioneers of graffiti and calligraffiti in Pakistan. He is also renowned for sneaker art, sticker art, b-boying and parkour. [1] [2] [3] [4]

In 2021, King made history by becoming the first Pakistani artist to exhibit at the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum and one of the youngest Pakistani artists in the world to be doing a museum show. He was also the youngest artist in the show. The exhibition, titled "Abstraction and Calligraphy − Towards a Universal Language" was the inaugural show for the museum's 3rd season and King's work was one of the two biggest installations in the exhibition. [5] [6]

Since early 2010, King has produced monumental graffiti & calligraffiti murals around Pakistan, works in 8 languages & in his own hieroglyphic writing system, associating elements of traditional calligraphy with street art techniques. He started exhibiting his work in galleries in 2016 with a sold-out solo show at Sanat Gallery, Karachi: he was a major part of the first Karachi Biennale in 2017 & an Abraaj Art Prize 2017 nominee. [5]

Early life

King was born in 1990 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and raised in Karachi, Pakistan. His father worked at the Islamic Development Bank. [4] Moving from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Karachi as a child, Sanki grew up with three languages, Arabic, Urdu and English. [7] Growing up, he got inspired by the American graffiti & hip-hop culture of the 80s & 90s through the internet, and at home he was inspired by his father, who spoke 19 languages & regularly wrote the Qur’an by hand. His father encouraged him to paint and draw from an early age which sparked his interest in learning different languages & traditional Arabic & Persian calligraphy. [5]

King is a self-taught artist whose talent emerged at an early age. After the loss of his mother at the age of nine, his father would buy him coloured pencils and colouring books so that the boy could express his feelings. Both his art teachers and father encouraged him to pursue art. In school, during art classes, he was the only student allowed to paint according to his wishes, while the class got on with copying. “As a child, I couldn’t stop doodling. When I was eight, my sister was studying zoology and I loved the pictures in her books. When I was nine, there were erasers that you could get with pictures of dinosaurs on them. I would make them in my art book and other books, which we really weren’t allowed to do. We were only allowed to draw what they wanted us to draw. One day my art teacher must have spotted something about my drawings so I was the only one in class allowed to draw whatever I liked in my art book.". [2] [7]

While playing Counter-Strike as a teenager, another player described him as ‘Sanki’ [2] (eccentric, slightly mad) and he adopted it as his moniker. The artist claims it also means 'deep thinker'. [8] He was also interested in BMX, boxing and floor gymnastics. [4] [8]

Early Career

King has a diverse career, he started his journey as a graffiti artist in 2006, and around the same time further delved into rapping, DJing, b-boying, and parkour. Along with graffiti in several languages, he experimented with portraiture, sneaker art, custom clothing & stencil art; later developing a strong practice in calligraffiti. In March 2012, King started his studio where he works as of February 2021. [9]

In 2013, when he quickly moved towards more monumental pieces, he joined the American Beyond Mankind Krew (BMK), established in New York. In 2014, he produced his first “calligraffiti”, associating elements of traditional Arab calligraphy with street art techniques. Influenced by the Arab oral tradition, Sanki King includes quotations, diary entries, literary extracts, and poetry in his works. [9]

Graffiti

Sanki next to his painting in a cafe in Zamzama, Karachi, June 2011
First art sticker created by Sanki King which features the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah

“[I] don’t want to be a second Banksy, I want to be the first Sanki!”.

—King on being called the " Banksy of Pakistan" [2]

Sanki did "live graffiti art" for the first time in Pakistan in July 2012 and in the same month launched his Sticker Art Movement through designs which feature Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. [1] In December 2012, he was chosen as the judge for a nationwide graffiti competition spread across seven cities. [10] Some of his well-known works include Love Karachi on a bus and another, titled Flying Kiss which he painted outside the Arts Council of Pakistan in 2013. He painted the tallest graffiti in Pakistan in 2014 at the Valika Cricket Ground, University of Karachi.His creations can be seen in the areas Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, Zamzama and Clifton outside the Sanat Gallery, painted at the opening of his very first solo exhibition, "You should know him by now", on the 4th of June 2016. [11] [12]

King is the only Pakistani artist to have been invited to graffiti crews Beyond Mankind Krew (BMK, founded 1991, Queens, New York City) and Experienced Vandals (Ex-Vandals, founded 1979, Brooklyn). Ex-Vandals is one of the first graffiti crews in the world. [4] [13] Sanki's work is featured in Nicholas Ganz’s book, Street Messages, published in April 2015. [8] [13] [14] In 2017, he collaborated with Mumbai-based artist Zeenat Kulavoor for Urdu calligraphic conversation project Pehle Aap. [15] [16] [17] He also participated in Karachi Biennale 2017 with his work Mind Palace. [18] [19] [20] [21]

Custom-painting and fashion

Sanki King is known for his graffiti art designs for sneakers, using paint, marker pens and stencils. [1] He now runs his own company making custom-painted sneakers and apparel, as well as organizing dance and graffiti workshops. [13]

In 2014, Sanki worked for the first time with a local designer brand Zeb-Tan. He collaborated with The House of Arsalan Iqbal for the collection ‘Desirably Distressed’, which came out in March 2015. He said, “In 2012, I painted a shutter in Arsalan Iqbal’s store. Since Iqbal travels a lot, he finds graffiti very inspiring. Then in May 2014 we worked on a collaborative venture for the next 10 months” [14]

B-boying and parkour

In 2008, Sanki started his career as a professional performing artist after being photographed by Tapu Javeri while freerunning in a park in Karachi, later performing at the launch of Style 360. In 2008, King began a b-boying crew in Karachi who organized as Unknown Crew (UC) in 2010. They have performed for Jaag TV (previously known as CNBC Pakistan), HP Inc, Caltex, Play TV, Lux Style Awards and a number of music videos. [2] [13]

Personal life

Sanki King lives and works in Karachi. [9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Qamar, Saadia (July 30, 2012), Sanki King’s graffiti knows no boundaries, The Express Tribune.
  2. ^ a b c d e Nasir Ahmad, Fouzia (December 22, 2013), Don't call me Banksy, DAWN.
  3. ^ Mustefa, Zab (July 22, 2012), Street Smart, Cover story, The Express Tribune.
  4. ^ a b c d Ahmed, Talha (January 22, 2014) 'SANKI' COLORS IT ALL: THE FIRST GRAFFITI ARTIST OF PAKISTAN, Youlin Magazine.
  5. ^ a b c 'Shama' (Flame) Biography of Sanki King, Louvre Abu Dhabi
  6. ^ Arts & Culture (February 3, 2021), Abstraction and Calligraphy – Towards a Universal Language: Louvre Abu Dhabi’s first 2021 exhibition features abstract masterpieces in dialogue, exploring a universal language of text and image, Abu Dhabi Media Office
  7. ^ a b Husain, Marjorie (June 12, 2016), Portfolio: The writing on the wall, DAWN.
  8. ^ a b c Subzwari, Shanzay (May, 2015), Sanki King: The Graffiti Artist Mastermind, ArtNow Magazine.
  9. ^ a b c Focus on Contemporary Art Sanki King, Louvre Abu Dhabi
  10. ^ Staff Reporter (December 23, 2012), Tetra Pak Graffiti Competition, The Nation.
  11. ^ A Correspondent(June 9, 2016) Word on the street: Bringing graffiti art into mainstream, The Express Tribune.
  12. ^ Khan, Nimra (June 10, 2016), Pakistan's First Serious Graffiti Artist Sanki King Enters The Art World With His First Exhibit, DAWN.
  13. ^ a b c d A Correspondent (June 30, 2015), Multi-talented Pakistani Street Artist 'Sanki King' excels nationally and achieves international recognition as well!, House of Pakistan.
  14. ^ a b Qamar, Saadia (April 17, 2015), From shadowy times to vivid walls, The Express Tribune.
  15. ^ Jahangir, Ramsha (2017-11-02). "Conversations close to the heart adorn walls in India, Pakistan". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  16. ^ "Why is the art of Urdu calligraphy dying?". mid-day. 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  17. ^ "Drawing their communities together". The Statesman. 2017-11-25. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  18. ^ "The 'SANKI KING' of Karachi's Graffiti Art | Interview - MAG THE WEEKLY". www.magtheweekly.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  19. ^ "Reel On Hai: Initiating Discourse through Public Art - Nageen Shaikh - Youlin Magazine". www.youlinmagazine.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  20. ^ "Sanki King". Karachi Biennale 2017. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  21. ^ Zubair, Hamna (2017-11-03). "10 provocative exhibits at the Karachi Biennale that you must see right now". Images. Retrieved 2020-06-16.

Sources

Books

External links

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