April 25, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1429

ISLAMABAD, April 24: It was all glamour at the Tanzara Gallery Thursday evening.

The glamorous elite of the city thronged the gallery at the opening of an exhibition to feast their eyes on the alluring works of abstract figurative painter, Mashkoor Raza.

Featuring over 50 paintings on small and large canvases as well as wood, Tanzara opened its doors to a tangled collection of a year old and latest works of Mashkoor Raza.

With 30 years of painting experience behind him, Mashkoor Raza, figures prominently in the world of Pakistani art for his rare distinction of having developed his own original style.

His work is characterised by an intense use of colour, primarily acrylic which couples well with his fertile imagination to take the viewers into regions of the imagination where they may not have been before.

Committed to technical excellence, outstanding craft, and subject matter that he is passionate about, Mashkoor’s dedication has made him one of the most respected contemporary artists whose work was engaged with the abstract images of women and horses.

Mashkoor combines his own style of figure painting — nudes — with the stylised temperamental bucking broncos literally staring out of the paintings engaging the eye of the onlookers.

With a blend of abstraction and cubist component, he creates aesthetic transparent impressions through which his images adopt varying shapes.

The graffiti-like repetitive images utilise colour and line to develop and affect form and their impact upon one another, building a truth, shaping a reality.

The majestic creatures (horses) run free in his new ‘08 paintings that are the heart of the exhibition.

“Eyes and senses are happily stunned just from these awesome paintings,” said a visitor.

Despite his spontaneity, Mashkoor keeps his fingers on the pulse of his viewers. To keep the dialogue going on with the viewer, he makes his canvases sufficiently attractive and then come out with his calling — doses of abstraction displaying his understanding and skill.

Compared with his old series, focused on serene moods, harmony, and rounded forms in a dialogue between line, shape and muted colours, juxtaposition of form and colour create surface tension and movement in these new works on large canvases dominated by bold strokes and bright colours complementing the mood of his wild horses.

“It’s what Mashkoor has always done, challenge our views through paintings,” said artist Arjumand Awan, adding: “It all adds up to an inspiring collection of work.”