Catalogue / Shakibul Islam
Shakibul Islam
Comfort
Two faces so close the colour cannot keep them apart
Two cheeks meet and the paint turns pink where they touch.
One face rests with its eyes shut. The other keeps watch.
Green shadows run along a nose, a lip, a jaw.
Around them, branches of orange and turquoise grow like coral in warm water.
Small and yellow, two figures dance below their chins.
Far off, a purple crowd stands under arches, too far away to reach them.
The work
Two faces press cheek to cheek at the centre of Comfort. One face has closed eyes. The other has its eyes open. Around them, shapes like coral and branches grow in red, yellow, turquoise and purple. Shakibul Islam uses colour that is hard to look at for long. Some people look away from queer lives in the same way, he says. He often starts on a red ground with pink, lime and blue in acrylic. Then he paints over it in oil, so the colour glows.
- Theme
- Queer intimacy and comfort
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 91.44 × 142.24 cm
- Year
- 2025
- Edition
- 1
- Framed
- Yes
- About the artist
- Sir J. J. School of Art, Architecture and Design, Mumbai
- From
- Mumbai
- Code
- RC-646
- @realshakibulislam
In the artist’s words
My practice operates at the intersection of identity formation, corporeality, and sociocultural regulation, with a sustained focus on queerness as both lived experience and critical framework. I grew up within patriarchal and homophobic environments, where I observed how queer bodies are celebrated in ritual yet ridiculed in daily life. These early experiences of bullying, exclusion, and performative inclusion continue to inform my work. My first painting on LGBTQIA+ identity was made during my BFA, responding to a mythological assignment through the story of Swami Ayyappa and queer adoption rights in the Indian Constitution. Since then, my work has expanded to address personal experience, rights, intimacy, and the social position of…
Meet the artist
