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  • Mar 11th, 2017
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A group exhibition of three artists titled "Triptych of Friends" at Clifton Art Gallery, Karachi introduced viewers to three different concepts of life. Even though the artists works reflected life in various forms but the philosophy of life was obvious throughout the show. Each artist portrayed his point of understanding of life. As life is a multi dimension subject the artists very carefully and according to their taste approached the subject and convey their perspective through line and colour.

From Bashir Ahmad's miniatures to Chitra Pritam's colourful seascapes to Saeed Kureshi's meditative women figures the angles of life were dealt with artistic impressions. Thus Notions of alternative realities were witnessed by the viewers. Viewers indeed enjoyed the show because they have seen these artists' works before and the artists need no introduction as they are connected to the world of art for many decades.

Deeply rooted in many cultures and spans over centuries the miniature art is a passion for Bashir Ahmad working in traditional style he tried to capture the history in his miniature paintings. The beautiful ornamental qualities of the miniature should be preserved. His paintings depicted the Mughal era lifestyles and compositions revealed the age old traditions of life in sub-continent.

Chitra Pritam's seascapes and landscapes were full of colours thus he celebrates life in its full form. The rural life and life beside sea fascinated him throughout his career other than Buddha. He wanted to capture life in all its beauty on his canvas. He gently revealed the beauty around us.

Saeed Kureshi is related to art world for a long time other than an art reviewer he is a fine arts alumnus of the Punjab University. He has the privilege of being taught by legends such as Anna Molka Ahmed, Zulqarnain Haider, Colin David and Bashir Mirza in drawing and painting.

Art is his childhood passion he is a multi-talented artist as he also play guitar and sings. He has written an introduction in my book. He is painting for decades but rarely exhibit his works. He has participated in group shows at Karachi and Islamabad. His paintings are held in private collections and are also displayed in various naval establishments. He made a mural of 23 feet in oil on canvas other than numerous paintings and sculptures. He held the rank of Rear Admiral in the Pakistan Navy and was awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz (M) for meritorious services.

His compositions have strong lines and bold colour scheme that proves his skills. His colours had a mystical quality to express his feelings about life. The vibrant colours juxtaposed with delicate facial features of women. The pleasant hues of red, blue and yellow along with light tones of green and orange created a symphony of their own.

Sensitive yet vulnerable the female forms play hide and seek with crystalline structures just like semi-abstract forms these translucent shards of glass seemed to reflect the image of female character in different perspective thus a single image was expressing two dimensions of a single character.

His painting titled 'Emerald Sapphire', 'Defiant Demeanor' and 'Contemplative Glance' were in crystalline form background as the women figures seemed to be emerging from the prism or mirror pieces scattered around. These crystalline structures in various colours also represented the different moods and experiences a woman go through in life and also represented other people's colourful imaginations about a woman. These structures also reflected the feelings of a woman in colours thus an image of a woman in the centre portrayed the many different characters a woman play in life.

He applied colours in layers but managed to bring forth the essence of his subject. He effortlessly depicted beauty in simple images of women. Hence simplicity is the key to beauty in life.

He mainly focuses on faces on women. He discussed his subject through facial features and expressions of women in his paintings. The faces and sometimes postures explained the situation and personality of a woman depicted in a painting. The colour palette and composition of his paintings fully support the subject matter revealed in his works.

In some of his works he used legendary Rohtas Fort in the background of his paintings with a woman in the foreground carrying a 'diya' a symbol for light and hope in times ahead. As the 'diya' will light the path leading to the destined place in dark night.

The compositional elements of his paintings became more enhanced by extensive mixing and overlapping of colours which produced overwhelming effect along with the women figure. The colours have sparkling shadows behind the head of the woman figure. The wide bright eyes of women also spoke with the viewers. With having typical Asian features the women strike a chord in a viewer and loudness of composition can be heard easily.

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Copyright Business Recorder, 2017


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