Anuar Rashid was born in Langgar, Alor Setar, Kedah and attended secondary school at Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid in Alor Setar, Kedah. In 1975, he enrolled in a pre-diploma in art and design at MARA Institute of Technology in Dungun, Terengganu. He participated in the third edition of Young Contemporaries organised by the National Art Gallery in 1976. In 1978, he held his first solo exhibition at the Penang State Museum. He was also actively participating in group art shows organised by Anak Alam collective upon joining the colony in 1978. Known as a radical and maverick, Anuar Rashid was recognised as a talented artist when he conceived Birth of Inderaputera (1978). Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal, then the director of National Art Gallery, announced him as “the new sensation of the Malaysian Art scene, perhaps its brightest star yet”.