His artworks showed an entirely unique and distinct style having transparency and third dimension in an idealistic landscape which revealed his subconscious. Devoid of lines he painted with paints the full figure of women silhouettes against the soft and pale sometimes bright backgrounds.
Although he has long achieved a signature style earlier in his career it hasn't made him confined to repeating again and again the same mode instead he retained his signature style and move forward by experimenting and inventing thus elaborating his own original style, and hence acquired a diverse mode of painting to distinguish him among his contemporaries.
Maqbool's paintings attract viewers and engage them in dialogue hence his paintings belong to the present era which are able to initiate conversation.
While going through his new series of paintings I felt that he paints a single woman in all of his paintings, which seemed to be his dream girl. His dream girl has uncountable moods and he paints each and every mood, experience and feelings of that woman on his canvas. In a way he has been painting a life of a woman day to day which is a unique and special style of painting capturing an entire life on canvas.
His splendid portrayal of female body structure showed his command and knowledge about the anatomy of female body. The women figures in his paintings gave a feeling of metallic sculptures. Although he used bold and thick colour layers he managed to bring out transparency which is his dexterity and virtuosity.
By manifesting forms in shadows he created an aura of mystery. His powerful brush strokes paints layers after layers creating reflections of images and images of images. He artistically diffused various figures and their reflections making it impossible to identify the real images. By merging and emerging transparent figures in unusual ambiances he created a peculiar atmosphere in the paintings.
This time also he amazed me by his current series of paintings at the show arranged at a private place. He balanced bold hues the lush green, bright sunny yellow, crimson red, peacock blue and flame orange very skilfully with midnight black and moonlight white.
He fused and diffused colours with figures to create forms and features of the female body. Through brilliant use of colours, light and shade he transformed his paintings translucent and semi-transparent. Transparent and dreamy compositions speaks about the women's lives, having ambitions and wishes which many a times do not materialise and remained with women like a shadow. The reflections of women portray their unfulfilled aims and desires.
With casual elegance faceless female figures make statements through their silence. The faceless voluptuous figures show that woman has no identity. Every woman has the same situations and conditions to encounter in her life. He painted anonymous women figures symbolically hence many around us feels that women are emotionally idle; they have no voice of their own they just have to follow the rules outlined by the society for them to live their lives.
The women in his paintings are connected with each other in an unseen thread, a deep feeling which only they share. Soft and enlightened female images unveil emotional and intellectual dilemmas of women.
Each painting has a detail composition harmonious to the reflections and refractions of his thoughts. An unseen energy is felt while having an eye contact with his paintings. The alluring female images reflecting again and again on the canvas create a melody of its own.
The intense emotions portrayed in his works in vibrant colours create stimulation because of its fragile beauty. He paints bold figures, busts and bodies halved or full length figures sitting, lying and standing in bright and light colours.
His work is conceptual portraying social issues regarding women. The women figures in his paintings seem to convey complex realities of life. Combining figurative, cubism and surrealistic forms in a single painting he has achieved an irreplaceable style of his own.
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Copyright Business Recorder, 2017