Renowned contemporary artist Nasser Azam continues his exploration of portraiture as a vessel for cultural memory with Sophia, his latest work honouring Italian screen legend Sophia Loren. Now installed at the entrance of Marea Beverly Hills, Sophia welcomes visitors to the newly opened West Coast outpost of the famed New York restaurant.
Culturalee spoke with Azam about the challenges of capturing an icon on canvas, the significance of public art, and his broader thoughts on the role of portraiture in contemporary art.
What drew you to Sophia Loren as a subject for your latest portrait?
I’ve always been fascinated by figures who transcend their own era and become something more than just themselves—symbols of history, culture, and identity. Sophia Loren is one of those figures. She represents not just the golden age of Italian cinema, but also resilience, elegance, and the evolving image of beauty in the public consciousness.
When I paint a subject, I’m not interested in simply recreating a likeness. I want to explore the layers beneath—what their image means to the world and how it has changed over time. With Loren, I saw an opportunity to capture not just a face, but a presence shaped by decades of film, fashion, and cultural significance.
Your portraiture often moves between abstraction and realism. How did you approach Sophia in terms of technique?
My process always begins with research. I studied countless images of Loren, not just still portraits but moments from her films—expressions caught in motion, light shifting across her face. I wasn’t looking for a single definitive image but rather an essence, something fluid that could carry across the painting.
The layering of oil paint was critical. I wanted the surface to feel alive, shifting between clarity and ambiguity. Some areas are defined, while others dissolve into abstraction—because that’s how memory works. We don’t recall people as fixed images; we remember them as impressions, moments, a collection of emotions rather than details. I tried to bring that sensibility to Sophia.
Your work often engages with themes of cultural identity and legacy. How does Sophia fit into this larger exploration?
Loren’s legacy is deeply tied to the evolution of Italian cinema, but her impact extends far beyond film. She became an international icon, and with that came layers of interpretation—how different generations and cultures perceive her. This idea of shifting identity is something I return to often in my work.
As an artist, I’m interested in how public figures exist in both personal and collective memory. When I painted Malala Yousafzai, for example, it was about strength and activism in the face of adversity. With Queen Elizabeth II, I was grappling with the weight of monarchy, tradition, and contemporary relevance. In each case, I’m not just painting a person—I’m painting an idea, a presence that exists beyond the individual. Sophia is part of that ongoing dialogue.
The painting is displayed in a public setting rather than a traditional gallery. How does context influence how your work is experienced?
I’ve always believed in the democratisation of art and that it should not be just confined to galleries. That’s reflected in my public sculpture, for example Athena and The Dance but also with my recent and ongoing Diaspora project, where I display my original paintings in public places across London. Placing Sophia in a space where people encounter it naturally, without the formal expectations of an exhibition, changes the way it’s seen. It becomes part of a lived environment.
When a painting hangs in a gallery, the viewer comes to it with a certain mindset—they are there to analyse, to observe in a structured way. But in a public setting, a painting can surprise you. You turn a corner, and there it is. You experience it in passing, in movement, in a way that feels more immediate. I like that unpredictability. It keeps the artwork alive, allowing it to interact with the space and the people within it rather than being a static object of observation.
What do you hope people take away from Sophia when they see it?
I don’t believe in dictating how people should respond to a painting. Art is a conversation, and every viewer brings their own experience to it. Some might see nostalgia, others might see beauty, some might engage with it on a deeper, more abstract level.
What interests me is the idea of memory—the way an image lingers, how it shifts over time. Sophia is not meant to be a definitive portrait of Loren. It’s an exploration of how she exists in the collective imagination, how her presence has evolved, and how it continues to resonate.
I hope people see Sophia not just as a painting, but as a reflection of time, movement, and the enduring power of cultural icons.
Nasser Azam’s Sophia is on display at Marea, 430 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills 90210.
Find more information see https://www.azam.com.
