#11 Ashik & Koshik Zaman

In this episode of The Art Bystander, our host Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar meets with Ashik and Koshik Zaman.

They are brothers and founders of C-Print. C-print started as a non-commercial initiative with the objective of popularizing contemporary art and highlighting diversity in artistic practices. Initially an online publication with a very active and daily presence on social media, it later over the years has come to inform a nomadic exhibition platform where a number of curated exhibitions are carried out each year. 

We talk about their background and deep engagement in the art industry but also about the latest exhibition they curate, called YOU WERE BIGGER THAN THE SKY, YOU WERE MORE THAN JUST A SHORT TIME, featuring artists Sally J Han, Nam Kim, Sahana Ramakrishnan, Ming Wang, Caroline Wong, Justin Yoon and Rachel Youn.

Belenius, Stockholm, Sweden Exhibition dates: March 16 - April 15, 2023

"As curators, we’ve had a long-standing love and interest for figurative painting that we have been monitoring since coming into art. A resurgence of contemporary figurative painting has been concerning the international art world since the last decade with a previously unprecedented spotlight on the work and everyday narratives of BIPOC and queer painters. This current focus in art, however, isn’t properly reflected and represented in the art scene of Sweden just yet, and this exhibition is an act of impacting that change and having that conversation.

”The title You Were Bigger Than the Sky, You Were More Than Just A Short Time is a title that both is a nod to the moment the figurative painting is having and enjoying and one that personally also references our trajectory and very first exhibition almost a decade ago about fleeting moments and joie de vivre; Yesterday We Wanted to Be the Sky (words that were then inspired by a Cat Power song. The new title is extracted from Taylor Swift's new album).

”Thematically and in the selection of the paintings, the exhibition will emphasize longing, lust, love and reverie and possibly have an air of coming of age in some parts. Some of those angles are sought to be a common denominator between the artworks and at the core we hope to present an exhibition that feels fresh and novel, in particular for the Stockholm audience.”

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