Exclusive : Interview with artist Nasser Azam

c, Nasser Azam, Icarus Fall, April 2007,

We all have an image of an artist's character . Creative, emotional, suffering, spontaneous, poetic. And the art world, certainly, has views on what is an acceptable path to create an ‘artist.’ Now think of a City Banker. What comes to mind? Rich, bullish, focussed, conservative?

But maybe these are clichés, and perhaps we all too readily put people, things, and experiences into neat boxes.

Azam, artist in residence at County Hall Gallery, is both an artist and a banker ( at Merrill Lynch) who has not travelled along the traditional path to, today,  having a retrospective of his work at one of the most prominent galleries in the capital.

When I go to meet Azam – from Pakistan, who moved here in 1970, aged seven -  at the gallery I’m told that he would rather I didn’t use a tape recorder for the interview, as he’s quite shy.
I’m expecting someone unsure of themselves, but then, he appears dressed immaculately in a suit, coiffed hair and heavy gold.

We walk around the gallery, and as I’m frantically scribbling my shorthand notes I discover that he is indeed a little shy, but talks eloquently and honestly about his art and the art world.

I’m keen to find out what made him abandon painting in 1983, aged 20, for business when he was just gaining momentum ( he had exhibitions around the West Midlands  including the Barber Institute of Fine Arts and was featured in a BBC documentary.)

“ I think that I was too young at that time,” he says carefully.
And, looking at the work from this period there is a youthful tentativeness.
But the images of his friends and family, his life at that time are moving, real, and quite sad.

“ I paint on impulse,” he says. “ there’s something that triggers it, I can’t explain what.”
He resumed painting seriously just two years ago, yet there’s a huge amount of work in the four rooms of County Hall.
“ I’m an insomniac,” he smiles. “And I try to complete a composition in one go, to capture the emotion that I’m feeling at the time quickly onto the canvas.”

There is, in marked to contrast to his first paintings,  an immediacy to the  current work;  abstract representations of the human form, and human emotion.

Does he find the act of painting therapeutic?
“ No, creativity is destructive, it’s draining,” he admits.

I get the feeling that he's had many difficult times. 
Has he returned to Pakistan since he left?

"No, I haven't been back in 15 years."

But it’s not all gloomy.
The paintings themselves are luminous, captivating. Easy to be drawn into.

Azam is influenced, he says, by Munch, Picasso and Bacon but doesn’t go to galleries.
And, he’s travelled extensively for his career, particularly through Asia and the Pacific Rim, and has lived and worked in Japan.
These perspectives are evident in his work now:  a tender quality, a fine prettiness and  breadth.

“ I’m inspired by the world around me,” he explains.

I’m interested to find out, from his perspective as a banker, what he thinks of the ‘ business’ of art.
“ Art is now very much in the business domain, and the public see having a piece by the likes of  Damien Hirst or Tracey Emin  as an asset.

“It used to be that art was just a financial commodity to those that could afford to buy it. But now the process has changed, there’s a real appreciation of the work now.”

Is having one of his pieces an asset?
“ This isn’t a commercial venture,” he laughs.
“ I’m pleased that people can appreciate it, that they have said they can relate to it.
I like the democratisation of art, it’s appealing. It gives me freedom.”

And feeling free is a good way to describe the most inspiring exhibitions. This one included.


Azam is Artist in Residence at Dali Universe, County Hall Gallery, Riverside Building, County Hall, London, SE1 7PB    www.countyhallgallery.com

His new bronze sculpture, The Dance, will be unveiled in February at the gallery.

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