Who is 'The Next Most Famous Artist'?
If you are thinking of Matty Mo, the force behind the U.S.-based conceptual art group The Most Famous Artist, you’d be mistaken. Instead, meet Hafiiz Karim, the Singaporean creative who adopted the moniker to ask a cheeky, fundamental question: what actually comes after 'the most famous artist'?
Hafiiz’s work is a direct reflection of this inquiry. He re-contextualises art history's most significant masterpieces by transporting them into familiar, modern, and quintessentially Singaporean environments.
Drawing from his background in art history and advertising, Hafiiz has an edge in identifying viral moments, despite having no formal training as an art practitioner. His persona is about the journey of becoming famous, and he is well on his way, having already exhibited at Singapore Art Week.
So, how does one begin remixing the Old Masters? For Hafiiz, there are distinct 'seasons' to his creative process.
'Season 1' began during an Art History course during his Master’s program at LaSalle. As instructors crammed thousands of years of discourse into intense lectures, Hafiiz began playing a game of 'mental Photoshop' as the slides flashed by. He imagined what these classical figures would do if dropped into modern scenarios. Later, while interning at an advertising agency, he refined his skills, learning to identify the perfect target audience for his unique blend of classical composition and contemporary quirkiness.
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Enter Season 2
From the 'Chicken and Egg' dilemma of his creative workflow to his 'Season 2' work created during the COVID-19 Circuit Breaker, there is much more to uncover about Hafiiz's process. To read the full feature, check out LIMINALITY, the 2nd volume of INTERLUNAR’s zine.
