Salman Toor

With a debut solo show currently on view at the Whitney, the painter shares what fuels his creativity.

A nude figure reclines on a bed while taking a selfie. Four men dance and cuddle in an apartment awash in emerald green. Two men play with a puppy on a verdant sofa. Many of the oil works in artist Salman Toor’s solo debut show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan, through April 4, depict young, queer, Brown men in intimate domestic settings. “The home environments of my paintings have so far been fantasies of shabby chic, slightly cutesy spaces that ooze comfort and coziness, like something out of a Victorian illustration,” explains Toor, who was born in Lahore, Pakistan, studied in the United States, and lives mainly in New York. “Growing up in a conservative society, these kinds of spaces were safe places for me.” In a style he describes as “Old Master painting meets modernism meets illustration meets cartoons often with Brown people in them,” Toor also captures the danger and fear in the diasporic experience, in scenes of police stoppings and inspections. Still, even when he visits more sober terrain, he maintains a lightness of spirit, true to the show’s title, “How Will I Know,” from the Whitney Houston song of the

same name. “Painting is a little like dancing for me,” Toor says. “It’s only fun if I feel it in my bones and forget

who might be watching.”

Salman Toor.

3. Jasmine Plant This is the quintessential summer evening scent you can get whiffs of in Lahore, where the bushes flower. I’m growing a little pot of it in my kitchen.

6. Jacob Lawrence I first saw his work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I like Panel 52 of his “Migration Series” because the action looks like a mime or a dance.

5. Drive Soundtrack My favorite track on this retro immersive trance album is “My Name on a Car” by Cliff Martinez. I like to listen to film scores when I’m in the studio.

4. Martinis at Hearth Pre-pandemic, I used to go to this East Village restaurant, a local haunt, once a week for two rounds of vodka martinis and dinner with my friends. Don’t be fooled by the small cocktail glass: Their drinks are super-stiff.

1. Dulwich Picture Gallery Less than an hour from central London, this museum is the opposite of an endless gallery: It has only masterpieces.

7. Goya by Robert Hughes Goya’s cynical and acerbic sense of humor, as depicted in this book, is surprisingly modern.

2. Williamsburg Oil Paint One of my favorite brands of paint, Williamsburg is lovingly made. It’s a heavy tube that’s loaded with pigment. And it has a dramatic effect on any color it’s mixed with.