Tayyeb Munawar is a visual artist based in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Education

Munawar received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia School of Art and Design, Halifax, Canada (2019), and an Associate degree in Fine Arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York (2017). He also holds a BSc in International Securities, Investment and Banking from the University of Reading, United Kingdom (2009).

Artistic Practice

Munawar’s paintings begin with photographic images he finds intriguing, sourced from magazines, Instagram, or photographs of people he encounters. He is drawn to a particular emotion, gesture, or moment within these images, which becomes the starting point for the painting. Rather than reproducing the source, he distorts and reshapes it through changes in perspective, colour, and form, gradually moving it away from the original. He is interested in the tension and surprise that emerges from this distance, the point where something familiar becomes unfamiliar. Expressive movement is central to his process: individual, deliberate strokes capture singular moments, keeping the physical act of painting, gesture, and touch visible in the finished work.

Exhibitions

Munawar’s solo exhibition, Encrypted Satires, was held at Nomad Art Gallery, Islamabad, in 2006.

His group exhibitions at Gallery 6, Islamabad, include Richness in Comparisons (2009), Imminent Painters and 16 Days of July (2011), 66 Statements (2012), the 50th Golden Jubilee Exhibition (2013), Art Fair Islamabad (2015), Onrushing 4 (2020), and Onrushing 5 (2021).

In Pakistan, he has also exhibited at the Pakistan National Council of Arts, Islamabad (International Calligraphy Competition, 2011; National Calligraphy Exhibition, 2014), and at the Rawalpindi Council of Arts (National Calligraphy Exhibition, 2012).

Internationally, his work has been shown at The Gershwin, New York (2010); the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York (2016); Urban Studio Gallery, Yonkers (2017); the University Museum of Albany and Greenpoint Gallery, Brooklyn (2018); Teichert Gallery, Halifax (Spark: NSCAD Student Painting Exhibition, 2018); and Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax (A Survey of Ordinary Scenes, 2018, and Preparation Suites, 2019).

Awards

Munawar received the “Best of the Show” Award at the International Calligraphy Competition, Pakistan National Council of Arts, in 2011.