I never looked at him as an artist: Owais Husain

Tell us more about this tribute show, ‘Namaste America’. How have you picked up the art works?
Atul Nishar, President, of Namaste America — Indo American Association for Art and Culture, wanted to host an evening in celebration of Art and pay tribute to my father MF Husain. That is how this tribute show was conceived.

Are you a big fan of your dad’s works?
I have never looked at him as an artist; he is no more than my father to me.
 
MF Husain is a brand in the art world… did that ever unnerve you?
No, it is something that has always inspired me. I question this brand tag. His body of work and his spirit would always inspire me as a son.
 
Any particular art work of his that is close to your heart and why?
‘Between the spider and the lamp’ — one of his most iconic and well-known works, done in the early 60s. It is an important station of his first 15 years as a painter where his iconography evolved into a new language that grew through the body of his work for the next 50 years.
 
Was he the biggest inspiration for you as an artist and as a son?
His hunger for life and his need to celebrate its every element is always inspiring to me.

Do you compare yourself with your dad in terms of work or otherwise?
Art is subjective and its creators are always victim of circumstances. We live in our own universes that we create. There is no generic scale to compare one artist with another. But I do admit that his hunger for life has always been a perfect point of departure for me, as I dive into my search to unravel the mysteries of our universe through my work.