“Can’t afford the Art? Buy the Artist!” is a campaign to promote the forgotten artists of Pakistan by designing a gift shop called “Historywind”.The idea is to develop exclusively designed stationery and artist supply product lines. The portraits of Pakistani artists are made graphically. The portraits are minimal illustrations that portray each artist in an approach that resembles their art style or their artwork. My project enables creative collectors and young artists, art lovers and art students ranging from 18-23 years to ‘purchase’ their favorite artists in the form of gift shop artifacts.

Haji Mohammad Sharif is known as master of miniature painting, a tradition strongly patronized by the Mughals. In the above shown illustration his head been swapped with one of his undated miniature painting titled as “Shahalam Badshah”

Abdual Rahman Chughtai was a painter who created his own unique painting style influenced by miniature painting, mughal art etc. This illustration of Chughtai is his self portrait but the cap on his head is taken from his miniature painting ‘Mughal Princess’.

Shakir Ali was not only a modern Pakistani artist but also an art teacher. Red was a dominant color in his paintings. He considered birds as a symbol of personal freedom that is why birds can be seen in many of his paintings. In the above shown illustration his head has been swapped with his painting ‘Untitled (Birds)’ which was oil on canvas made in 1968.

Anna Molka Ahmed was a Pakistani artist and a pioneer of fine arts in the country after its independence in 1947. She was well known as a painter of evocative landscapes, grand thematic figurative compositions and observant, insightful portraits. This illustration is the self portrait of Anna Molka.

Ismail Gulgee used to make portraits in the start. Later he turned into an abstract painter which was inspired by Islamic calligraphy. He is best known worldwide for his abstract work. In the above shown illustration his head is replaced with one of his free flow style abstract paintings.

Sadequain was a painter and a calligrapher. He painted poetic verses of Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz. Most of his paintings include elements like cactus plant, exaggeration of body parts and myth in his themes. In this illustration, the head of Sadequain is swapped with his painting called ‘Family’ made in the 1960s.

Abdul Rahim Nagori was famous for his socio-political themes and was a leading voice in Pakistan political art. He made a portrait of Zia ul Haq and named it ‘King of Hearts’. In this regard the head of Ngori has been replaced with his painting ‘King of Hearts’.

Jamil Naqsh was a painter. He grew up seeing pigeons flutter around his courtyard as a result most of his paintings include pigeons in them. This is the reason why this illustration of Jamil Naqsh has a pigeon in place of head.

Bashir Mirza was a painter who never stuck to one theme or style rather shifted between realistic, abstract and nonobjective styles. In this illustration his head has been swapped with his painting called ‘Australian Sunrise’ made in 1999.