World in My Eyes – Salman Toor

Photo: Sawani Chaudhary

Salman Toor, born in 1983 in Lahore, Pakistan, is an artist based in New York. Toor's figurative paintings—created with a signature palette of greens and soft yellows, applied in brushwork that feels at once expressive and full of movement—capture intimate moments in the lives of imagined young, brown, queer men in contemporary cosmopolitan settings. Toor often portrays familiar domestic environments where marginalized bodies find safety and comfort. Other pieces depict allegorical spaces of waiting and apprehension, exploring border crossings into potentially unwelcoming worlds.

Toor's work is deeply reflective of his experiences and observations of identity and belonging. His paintings often delve into the complexities of navigating multiple cultures and the constant negotiation of the self within public and private spaces. Such as with Toors painting "The Star" (2019), where he captures an intimate gathering of young men in a living room, one of whom is illuminated by the soft glow of a phone screen, while others are engaged in conversation and reflection. The nuanced emotion in his characters' faces and the intimate settings they inhabit provide a window into silent struggles and small joys of the mundane. Toor invites viewers to witness the beauty and vulnerability of these moments, challenging preconceived notions and fostering empathy and understanding.

Salman Toor has had solo exhibitions at the Baltimore Museum of Art (2022) and the Whitney Museum of American Art (2020). He has participated in the Venice Biennale (2024), Lahore Biennale (2018), and the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2016). His painting "Night Garden" was on view as part of the group exhibition "Seven Rooms and a Garden: Rashid Johnson and Moderna Museet's Collection" at Moderna Museet in 2023/2024.

Language: English
Price: 80 SEK (free admission for students)
Tickets: www.stadsmissionen.se/motesplats-mariatorget/kalendarium

World in My Eyes – An Artist Lecture Series

All the islands in the ocean
All the heavens in the motion
Let me show you the world in my eyes
// Depeche Mode (1990)

In its second season, the artist talk series World in My Eyes presents Jonathas de Andrade, Selma Selman, Salman Toor, and Cecilia Vicuña. Each artist contributes to both the discursive and formal hybridity of contemporary art at a moment of acute geopolitical volatility and increasing polarization.

Launched in 2023, World in My Eyes is an artist lecture series in Stockholm presented through a collaboration between Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design; Moderna Museet; and the Royal Institute of Art and hosted by Mötesplats Mariatorget. Its title drawn from the eponymous 1990s electronic music hit by English band Depeche Mode, the series aims to present artistic perspectives from a wide range of media that are changing the relationship between material processes and socio-political imagination.