Stellar Projects

Beyond Beauty

Stellar celebrated International Woman’s Day, on the 5th of March with a panel session on art, sensuality and feminism. Chairing the discussion was award-winning writer, Curator and Art Historian Dr Sona Datta and our artist in focus, the internationally renowned Faiza Butt.

Using Faiza’s work, the pair discussed how art can be used to address issues that face everyone, beyond borders, exploring issues of gender politics and sensuality alongside the quandaries of the human condition. The debate took a critical look at patriarchal society and challenged the restrictive cultural parameters which have become engrained across the globe.

With society traditionally dictated by male dominated narratives, Pakistani born Faiza reverts the idea of how feminism is expressed by objectifying and eroticising the male face in her artwork for the feminine gaze.  Faiza’s work displays a hybridity of elements, unique to her as an artist in diaspora, projecting current and controversial themes with a strong social relevance that create ripples internationally.

Trained in the art of the Mughal miniature at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan, Faiza harnesses a five-hundred-year-old tradition while simultaneously transforming it. Her rich and sumptuous works are known for being lavish and erotic, mixing South Asian iconographies with a variety of contemporary technologies. Her elaborate drawings are crafted with passion and rigour producing surfaces that hover between photography and embroidery.

Faiza Butt’s work has been exhibited internationally including Art Dubai, Art Basel Kong, India Art Fair and the Venice Biennale. She was awarded the Berger Gold Metal for Outstanding Student of the Year at the National College of Arts Lahore and the UNESCO-Ashberg Bursary, which allowed her to practice in Durban, South Africa, while running artistic workshops for women in shantytowns. She was nominated for the Jameel Prize (2013) and was a finalist for the Sovereign Art Prize (2009). Her work is held in public and private collections worldwide, including the British Museum. She is represented in London by Grosvenor Gallery and Rossi & Rossi. The Stellar International Art Foundation are proud to present their support for this important contemporary artist.