33 Bond Gallery presents “Fast Traveling Passenger”, an exhibition including new works of gouache and ink on paper as well as a large-scale sculptural installation that will emanate from the gallery wall. In his new series of work, the Pakistani-American artist has illustrated a number of media-inspired depictions of soldiers and flameless explosions that have been fragmented and juxtaposed with components of vintage, foreign-model automobiles inspired by memories of the artist’s early upbringing.

Born on a Libyan military base and raised in Karachi, Pakistan before moving to the United States at the age of eight, Khan has become increasingly fascinated by images from the oppressive and militaristic cultures of his childhood. Current media coverage of conflict and events related to the war also contribute to his artwork. Though his recent work plays on the visceral undertones of the political climate, his work is not explicitly aggressive, his political content not too overt. Drawing on references from his childhood, such as chilly peppers, pomegranates, vintage foreign cars and commuter buses, Khan constructs intricate explosions that reverberate across the page capturing a constructed moment in time.

In a featured work, Go Postal (We Deliver For You), 2007, Khan depicts two U.S. mail trucks to raise the issue of car bombing, a form of violence usually associated with the Middle East, from a domestic perspective. In this work, the viewer is witness to the explosive impact of such an event occurring to a vehicle from a United States government agency on any street in America instead of in a foreign arena. Khan’s work does not express blatant violent explosions conversely, upon closer look, his assemblage of pattern, line, shape and color come together to express a choreographed composition of carefully arranged parts.

Ambiguity is an important element of Khan’s work. Khan is interested in the relationship between the viewer and the artwork. The seemingly scattered elements in each drawing demand the active participation of the viewer. Though the collected parts of each work are suggestive, the conversation about the meaning of each picture can only be complete when it is informed by the viewer’s personal background and experience.