A Pakistani painter based in New York City, Salman Toor often depicts young men of South Asian birth within South Asian or New York settings. In other words, his work hits close to home—wherever that may be. His new exhibition, “Wish Maker,” at the Luhring Augustine galleries in both Tribeca and Chelsea, explores “the notion of community in the context of queer, diasporic identity,” he says. Toor’s palette includes plentiful shades of green, a color somewhere between moody and vibrant. He paints in brushed layers. His pictures come from the minds-eye as well as his own experience as a gay man who once lived in Lahore. “All my paintings are imagery, so when I’m painting there aren’t any sources in front of me,” Toor says. “Through painting, I try to conjure a world where people of color are equal and proud heirs to the humanist culture that hosts the freedoms that we enjoy in urban centres in the West.” —Carolina de Armas