Hanif Kureshi (12 October 1982 – 22 September 2024) was an Indian artist, designer, and advertising professional. He was the co-founder of the St+art India Foundation. Kureshi was a prominent figure in India's street art movement, transforming urban spaces into public canvases. Some of his notable projects included the street art at the Lodhi Art District in Delhi and at the Sassoon Dock art project in Mumbai. His works were also part of Delhi Metro and Bangalore Metro. Most of his street artwork was under his pseudonym Daku (transl. Bandit).
Hanif Kureshi | |
|---|---|
 Kureshi in 2023 | |
| Born | 12 October 1982 |
| Died | 22 September 2024 (aged 41) Goa, India |
| Alma mater | Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda |
| Known for | Street art and design |
| Notable work | Lodhi Art District; Handpainted Type Project |
| Style | Street art, murals, live installations |
Early life
editKureshi was born on 12 October 1982 in Talaja, a town in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat.[1][2] He graduated with a degree in arts from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. It was here that he developed an interest in typography and street art. His early experiences with hand-painted signage in India's streets would later become handy in his creative career.[1][3]
Career
editKureshi began his professional career in advertising, starting with the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather in 2003 where he went on to be a senior art director. He later moved to the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy in 2008. He later left the advertising world to focus on street art and sign painting.[4]
St+art India Foundation
editIn 2013, Kureshi co-founded the St+art India Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting street art across India. The foundation worked on transforming neighbourhoods through large-scale murals and street art installations.[5][6] One of foundation's notable projects was the Lodhi Art District in Delhi, one of India's first open-air public art districts, which features over 60 murals created by national and international artists.[3][4][7] The foundation went on to start seven art districts across the country including in Mahim in Mumbai, Nochi in Chennai, and Ukkadam in Coimbatore.[3][8]
Artistic contributions
editKureshi's art blended traditional Indian aesthetics with modern public art practices. His murals often incorporated elements of Indian culture, including typographic works that played with regional languages and local traditions. His large-scale public art pieces can be seen in various Indian cities, including murals at Delhi's metro stations and the Sassoon Dock art project in Mumbai.[3][7] Some of his other works were part of the Bangalore Metro, the Churchgate railway station in Mumbai, and the streets of Panaji in Goa.[7] Some of his works were noted as a commentary on the socio-economic situation in the country including increasing wealth inequality, urban apathy, and an emerging water crisis in the country's major cities.[9][10][11]
Kureshi started the HandpaintedType project as an attempt to preserve typographic practices and styles from Indian street sign painters.[2][12]
Most of his works were under his pseudonym Daku (transl. Bandit).[9] Some of his collaborations included ones with the France-based American artist JonOne who was a founder member of Crew 156, and other artists including Bond and Zine.[13] In some of his art, he played with light and shadows to render the art and messages. Speaking about his approach to street art, he would note his practice of using SketchUp, a 3D modeling software, on Google Maps Street View images. His earlier street work was considered more cynical and pseudonymous with him often using stealth to render graffiti and other street messaging, an approach that he moved away from in the latter part of his career.[13] His early work also included stenciled art with often provocative messages. This had some calling him the "Banksy of India" referring to the pseudonymous English graffiti artist Banksy, a comparison that he rejected.[14][15] Many of his works during this period spoke against moral and cultural policing, urban issues including garbage management and water crises, and political activism.[15][16][17]
Kureshi's work was exhibited at international art events and venues, including the London Design Biennale, Venice Biennale, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Triannale Design Museum in Milan, and also at the India Art, Architecture and Design Biennale at the Red Fort in Delhi.[18][19][5][20] In June 2024, he held a solo exhibition at Wildstyle Gallery in Sweden, a few months before his death.[18]
Select works
editSources:'[9][13][21][22][23][24]
- Time Flies / Time Fades, Kochi (2012)
- Lodhi Art District (2016)
- Chakraview, London Design Biennale (2016)
- Sassoon Dock Art Project, Mumbai (2017)
- Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa (2017)
- Life is Beautiful, Swarowski Indian Mela, Austria (2017)
- Theory of Time, Goa (2019)
- Saurashtra, Chennai (2020)
- Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa (2020)
- Friction at Kona, New Delhi (2020)
- Bonjour India, Chandigarh (2020)
- Cycle of Time, India Art, Architecture and Design Biennale, Red Fort, Delhi (2023)
Personal life and death
editKureshi was married to his wife Rutva. The couple had a son.[9]
Kureshi died after a 15-month battle with lung cancer in Goa, on 22 September 2024, at the age of 41.[1][3]
Gallery
edit-
Lodhi Art District, Delhi -
Lodhi Art District, Delhi -
Sasson Docks Art Project, Mumbai -
Sasson Docks Art Project, Mumbai
References
edit- ^ a b c "Former adman and street art pioneer Hanif Kureshi passes away". www.afaqs.com. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
- ^ a b S, Gowri (25 September 2024). "Tribute | Remembering visionary artist Hanif Kureshi who took art to India's streets". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Painting on the wall: Street artist Hanif Kureshi remembered for making art democratic". The Hindu. 24 September 2024. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
- ^ a b "RIP Hanif Kureshi: Legacy lives on through Delhi's vibrant street art at Lodhi Colony's Art District". Hindustan Times. 24 September 2024.
- ^ a b "Artistic Visionary Hanif Kureshi Passes Away, Leaving Behind a Vibrant Legacy in Street Art. – Asia Art Council". Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ "How artwork gave Lodhi Colony fresh lease of life". The Indian Express. 3 July 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ a b c Shaikh, Sadaf (24 September 2024). "Remembering Hanif Kureshi, the artist who breathed life into Mumbai's streets". Vogue India. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
- ^ "Hanif Kureshi, who popularised street art in India's neighbourhoods, passes away at 41". The Indian Express. 23 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d Drishya (24 September 2024). "A One-Man Revolution: The Artistic Legacy Of The Late Hanif Kureshi". Homegrown. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ "Hanif Kureshi's art created a bridge between the street and the people". The Indian Express. 24 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ "Hanif Kureshi (1982–2024): A Trailblazer In The Indian Public Art Movement". Design Pataki. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ "HandpaintedType". theindexproject.org. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ a b c Parakala, Vangmayi (6 May 2016). "On 15 May, this art will disappear".
- ^ "India's 'Banksy' behind provocative graffiti". BBC News. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ a b "The dacoit of the art world". web.archive.org. 4 August 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ "Street art breathes a new life into Mumbai". DNA India. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ "Graffiti artist Daku's latest mural is a take on Chennai's water crisis". The Indian Express. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ a b "Hanif Kureshi, who popularised street art in India's neighbourhoods, passes away at 41". The Indian Express. 23 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
- ^ Vasanthan, Sobhika (14 December 2023). "How Indian Artist DAKU Turned The Red Fort Into A Transient Canvas of Light & Shadow". Homegrown. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ "Know More About Hanif Kureshi – IFP". 5 October 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
- ^ "Hanif Kureshi". XXL Collective. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
- ^ "Chakraview at London Design Biennale". Architectural Digest India. Photographer: Vipul Sangoi. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Mukerji, Soumya. "All the world's a graffiti wall: Hanif Kureshi, saint and bandit of urban Indian street art". Stir World. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
- ^ Staugaitis, Laura (15 January 2019). "Sunlight Casts Shadows of Phrases Exploring Theories of Time in a Street Art Installation by DAKU". Colossal. Retrieved 28 September 2024.