Fag Puddle with Candle, Shoe, and Flag
Toor grew up in Pakistan but attended school in the United States and now splits his time between New York and Lahore. His poetic works straddle both cultures and focus on the ways in which his queer self-identity intersects with his Muslim cultural background and his love of Western art history. In this monumental example from his Fag Puddles series, accumulations of objects symbolic of his international experiences form delightfully jumbled piles. Here, a feather boa intertwines with a retro striped tie of the sort worn by schoolboys, while a tombstone in the traditional mosque shape crowns the heap. Parts of sculptures (or bodies) and a museum-like vitrine also join the mix. The eerie shades of green that form the majority of Toor’s palette are another of the artist’s hallmarks: for him, these absinthe-like colors are "velvety, nocturnal, and comforting."[1]
[1] Asma Naeem, ed. Salman Toor: No Ordinary Love. Exh. cat. Baltimore Museum of Art. New York, 2022, p. 49.
[1] Asma Naeem, ed. Salman Toor: No Ordinary Love. Exh. cat. Baltimore Museum of Art. New York, 2022, p. 49.
Artwork Details
- Title: Fag Puddle with Candle, Shoe, and Flag
- Artist: Salman Toor (American, born Lahore, Pakistan 1983)
- Date: 2022
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 95 1/8 × 90 in. (241.6 × 228.6 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Jeff Magid Gift, 2023
- Object Number: 2023.80
- Rights and Reproduction: © Salman Toor
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Georgia O'Keeffe
1927
Yasuo Kuniyoshi
1924
Edward Hopper
1930
Charles Sheeler
1931
Norman Lewis
1978
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.