Sanki King

Sanki King
King in 2015
Born
Abdullah Ahmed Khan

1990 (age 35–36)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Known forGraffiti, Calligraffiti, Public art, Sticker art, Parkour
Websitesankiking.com

Abdullah Ahmed Khan (Urdu: عبداللہ احمد خان, born 1990),[1] professionally known as Sanki King, is a Pakistani graffiti, calligraffiti and street artist based in Karachi. He also works in sticker art, b-boying and parkour.

Early life

Sanki King was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where his father worked at the Islamic Development Bank, and was raised in Karachi, Pakistan.[2]

Career

While playing Counter-Strike as a teenager, another player described him as sanki — an Urdu word meaning eccentric or slightly mad — and he adopted it as his moniker.[3] In 2008, he was photographed by Tapu Javeri while freerunning in a park in Karachi, and subsequently performed at the launch of Style 360.[4] From 2011, he began selling artwork and painting commissioned murals.[4]

Graffiti

In July 2012, King performed live graffiti art and launched a Sticker Art Movement featuring designs of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.[1] In December 2012, he was selected as a judge for a nationwide graffiti competition held across seven cities.[5] His works include Love Karachi, painted on a bus, and Flying Kiss, painted outside the Arts Council of Pakistan in 2013.[6] In 2014, he painted a large-scale mural at the Valika Cricket Ground, University of Karachi.[6] In June 2016, he held his first solo exhibition, You Should Know Him By Now, at the Sanat Gallery in Clifton, Karachi.[7][8]

King is the only Pakistani artist to have been invited to join the graffiti crews Beyond Mankind Krew (BMK, founded 1991, Queens, New York City) and Experienced Vandals (Ex-Vandals, founded 1979, Brooklyn).[2] His work is featured in Nicholas Ganz's book Street Messages, published in April 2015.[4][9]

In 2017, he collaborated with Mumbai-based artist Zeenat Kulavoor on Pehle Aap, an Urdu calligraphic conversation project.[10] He also participated in Karachi Biennale 2017 with the work Mind Palace.[11]

An original abstract work by King was included in a group exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi from February to June 2021.[12]

Fashion collaborations

In 2014, King collaborated with designer brand Zeb-Tan. He subsequently worked with The House of Arsalan Iqbal on the collection Desirably Distressed, released in March 2015.[9][13] A further collection, Devolution Chic, incorporating his designs in footwear and jewellery, was presented at the 8th PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week in April 2015.[14][15]

B-boying and parkour

In 2008, King founded a b-boying crew in Karachi, which organised as Unknown Crew (UC) in 2010. The crew has performed for Jaag TV, HP Inc, Caltex, Play TV and the Lux Style Awards, among others.[3][6][16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Qamar, Saadia (30 July 2012), Sanki King's graffiti knows no boundaries Archived 1 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine, The Express Tribune.
  2. ^ a b Ahmed, Talha (22 January 2014), 'SANKI' COLORS IT ALL: THE FIRST GRAFFITI ARTIST OF PAKISTAN Archived 28 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Youlin Magazine.
  3. ^ a b Nasir Ahmad, Fouzia (22 December 2013), Don't call me Banksy , Dawn.
  4. ^ a b c Subzwari, Shanzay (May 2015), Sanki King: The Graffiti Artist Mastermind Archived 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, ArtNow Magazine.
  5. ^ Staff Reporter (23 December 2012), Tetra Pak Graffiti Competition, The Nation.
  6. ^ a b c Varma, Nandini (25 May 2014), Graffiti artist brings hip hop to the streets Archived 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Campus Diaries.
  7. ^ A Correspondent (9 June 2016), Word on the street: Bringing graffiti art into mainstream Archived 9 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Express Tribune.
  8. ^ Khan, Nimra (10 June 2016), Pakistan's First Serious Graffiti Artist Sanki King Enters The Art World With His First Exhibit , Dawn.
  9. ^ a b Qamar, Saadia (17 April 2015), From shadowy times to vivid walls Archived 21 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, The Express Tribune.
  10. ^ Jahangir, Ramsha (2 November 2017). "Conversations close to the heart adorn walls in India, Pakistan". Dawn. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  11. ^ Zubair, Hamna (3 November 2017). "10 provocative exhibits at the Karachi Biennale that you must see right now". Dawn. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Louvre Abu Dhabi's first exhibition of the year to feature more than 80 abstract artworks". The National. 16 February 2021. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  13. ^ Desirably Distressed, Issue 81, page 54. 22 March 2015 Archived 4 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Paperazzi Magazine.
  14. ^ Press Release (22 April 2015), PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week: Day-4 Journal Archived 19 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Pakistan Today.
  15. ^ Fayyaz, Yousaf (21 April 2015), House of Arslan Iqbal At PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2015 Archived 13 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Ebuzz Today.
  16. ^ A Correspondent (30 June 2015), Multi-talented Pakistani Street Artist 'Sanki King' Archived 12 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, House of Pakistan.

Sources

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