Asif Hoque

Asif Hoque (b. 1991) is an artist based in Brooklyn. He received an AA from Pratt Institute and continued education at Hunter College in 2014.

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All of my work holds snippets of my real life. I was born in Italy, and my parents often traveled between Bangladesh to Italy. In Rome, I was surrounded by grandiose figures, statues, and churches. I remember walking around with my mom and looking at the Roman fountains, which held giant sculptures in the center. When I would visit Bangladesh, my aunt would take me to a Bengali after-school art program. My interest in art began with those experiences.

When I was around eight years old, my family moved to Florida. Growing up, there weren’t many Bengalis in South Florida. So I turned to music, specifically hip-hop, as an artistic and cultural outlet. Hip-hop was a driving force for my earlier works and has empowered me throughout my artistic journey. The first artist I resonated with in Florida was Nick Cave; I first saw his work at the Norton Museum in West Palm. It was my first significant experience seeing a brown artist showcased. Seeing his energetic sound suits on display made me feel seen. It sparked something within me.

When I moved to New York, I started teaching art to elementary school kids. In the 90s and early 2000s, I grew up with manga and Toonami cartoons, such as Dragonball and Gundam, which helped me deeply connect with my students. Introducing these kids to art allowed me to relive my childhood and engage with my imagination again. Another teacher introduced me to an exercise based on a book called Fabulous Beasts, which shows mythological creatures like the phoenix and the pegasus. I asked the students to create imaginary creatures and started applying the exercise in my artistic practice. Through teaching, I realized the profound potential for art and I want to continue inspiring people through my work.

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Building from my Bengali roots and my experience growing up in the US and Italy, my art marries Eastern and Western artistic styles, concepts, and icons. I draw from Greco-Roman artworks and classical artists for the scale and composition of my paintings. Peter Paul Rubens influenced my earlier works since I wanted to create grand, classical-style paintings. I reference imagery and colors like terracotta and gold, drawing inspiration from Bengali culture and South Asian miniature art spanning the 15th to 19th centuries.

As I mature and become more introspective, I also become increasingly captivated by nature. In Florida, I grew up 10 minutes away from the beach. I didn't fully appreciate that as a child, but now I’ve gained a new love for the peace and serenity of nature. When I considered how to express nature in my work, I discovered the artist Anges Pelton. She was part of the Transcendental Painting Group, which centers around a spiritual embrace of nature. We were born almost 100 years apart and have vastly different life experiences, yet painting allows me to converse with her. It’s central to my artistic practice to understand that I’m building on the work of artists who came before me—it reminds me why I fell in love with art in the first place.

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I began my career by exploring identity. I wanted to engulf the viewer in my art. It allowed me to showcase that I exist and belong here. My early works were composed of brown bodies painted on linen backgrounds. I wanted to use the most expensive fabric I could to adorn these brown bodies. These figures became like characters to me, and one of my earlier characters is named Lover Boy. Lover Boy is a winged, cherubic figure, and there is a duality to him: mischievous and kind, masculine and feminine, sweet and sour. He was going out into the world and finding love. That character helped me develop my voice and identity as a Brown painter.

Gold has always held personal significance to me. Gold’s shine emulates the sun, which is deeply connected to Bangladesh and Florida. I want to constantly reinforce that I’m being embraced by light. When I was younger my mother gave me this heavy gold chain with a family crest etched in it. Every time I wore it, it was like armor, offering protection and familial love. When I lost it, it was like losing a part of me. I felt naked without it. I made Golden Boy to replicate the feeling of warmth and protection that chain gave me.

Golden Boy was partly inspired by a trip I took to Mexico City. I visited museums and was attracted to the statues of Saint Michael. In these statues, Saint Michael was adorned in shimmering gold armor with a Cupid embedded into his chest. I was already adding little cherubs and winged figures in my paintings to move the viewer’s eye throughout my work. These statues became a new inspiration, and I began developing Golden Boy into an armored, heroic figure.

The lines and forms that compose Golden Boy’s armor are curved and soft, making the figure inviting, protective, and non-threatening. There is strength, but also warmth. I see Golden Boy as a culmination of my identity and growth, weaving together the nature of Florida, the intricate styles of South Asian miniatures, the grandeur of Greco-Roman art, the heroic spirit of characters in anime and manga, the movement and lyricism of hip-hop, and the light and protection of gold.