Zaam Arif is a Pakistani-American contemporary artist residing and working in Houston, Texas. Arif’s work is a reflection of an overture rich with philosophical and literary influences, evolving over time into a deep and provocative exploration of the human experience. Theories that derive from an otherwise complicated plethora of inquiries on existentialism are translated into powerful visuals with Arif’s seamless craft and the synergy he creates between his characters and their environments. Arif paints with a silent prowess and constructs his own abridgment of the human nature. The artist’s work mirrors his curiosity about the complicated journey of discovery and the understanding of human existence. His practice, although ever-changing, keeps a constant resonance with every human’s yearning that is awakened when they are plagued with an existential inquiry. Each viewer is drawn to find themselves in Arif’s works, as each posits a mirror to the self.

Zaam Arif was born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1999, and now lives and works in Houston, TX, where he is pursuing his BFA at the University of Houston. Arif’s work was exclusively featured in The New Yorker magazine in 2021, making him the youngest Pakistani artist to be published in the prestigious magazine. Arif has shown in both solo and group shows all over the world, where he has been critically acclaimed for showing new frontiers in the crossover of South Asian and Western culture, literature, and philosophy. In 2021, his work was selected to be exhibited in the Malamegi Lab Award and was awarded the Malamegi Lab Research Grant in Italy.