February 10, 2008	Sunday	Safar 02, 1429

KARACHI, Feb 9: G.N. Kazi’s exhibition at Zeniani, 12th solo since he graduated from the Karachi School of Art in 1995, is the first to display his work in acrylic on canvas. He has so far been known for his water colours, which he continues to work in – 10 of his 22 paintings on display are in this medium. But he has proved to be just as facile in acrylic, leaving one to wonder why this delay or, shall we say hesitation in showing his work in this medium.

His forte lies in portraying architectural beauty. He displays the walled city of Lahore in basant in two of his paintings. Come to think of it, it’s not too easy to paint the maze of buildings, more so if you are painting from memory as Kazi does. One can spot occasional figures, but they are naturally diminutive in relation to the enormous number of buildings, almost hugging each other.

His favourite subject – the town of Thatta – finds a place in this exhibition too. You can see wind-catchers, buildings in natural colours, a small shop popping out of a house and a rilli hanging from a wall, all of which recreate the ambience of the residential locality of the southern Sindh town. The resplendent colour of sunset makes the scene quite breathtaking.

His paintings are evocative of the time of the day, as much as they represent the seasons. A case in point is the composition which shows mustards blooming in a field. It is in a painting like this that one can see the introduction of pointillism in his work.

Another plus point in his works on display is the limpid flow of strokes, particularly in the ones painted in acrylic. The exhibition will continue till the eve of the elections.—Asif Noorani