Umar Rashid's figurative works on paper and canvas—favouring tea-stained paper and acrylic paint—depict detailed tableaus evocative of Egyptian hieroglyphs, Persian miniature paintings, as well as illustrated colonial manuscripts, among others.
Read MoreCentral to Rashid's practice is the Frenglish Empire, a colonial empire born out of a truce between the two historical rivals, France and England. Following its formation in 1648, the Empire competes with other European powers—Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Prussia, Austria, Russia, and the Ottomans—whose relationships Rashid draws from both history and imagination.
Although set in a European empire, Rashid's works concentrate on people of colour whose narratives have often been omitted from official records. Recurring characters create accounts that coalesce into a larger, if invented, narrative of the traditionally marginalised. One such character is Hustle Heraclio, who appears in a Frenglish soldier's uniform after the defeat of their army in Hispaniola in the ink and tea drawing You and me baby and nothing else. (Suite for young lovers) H lvs AL forever., then later in another drawing, The poisoning of Hustle Heraclio in front of his adopted children. An unceremonious end for a great man (both 2018).
Participating in Made in L.A. 2020: A version, Rashid expanded the contemporary world of the Frenglish Empire by turning to the United States. The triptych Battle of Malibu (In Three Parts) (2020), set in 1795, presents the fictional maritime battle involving the Tongva and Chumash people rendered in the artist's characteristically saturated colours and complex compositions.
