KARACHI: Summer and art: the two words ostensibly sound incongruous when put together. That’s not the case.

The sun, sweltering or benign, seldom slides out of an artist’s canvas for it symbolizes many things, including life, death and spiritual growth; you just have to look for it deeper. The summer show that began at the Canvas art gallery on Tuesday evening is quite interesting in that context.

As the artworks by more than a dozen artists have been chosen by none other than the distinguished critic, Marjorie Husain, there’s no surprise in seeing her name in the title of the exhibition ‘The Summer Show – Marjorie’s Choice’.

The statement of the critic on the invite to the display suggests that it was a ‘serendipitous affair’ that she chanced upon these exhibits while ‘wandering through’ the gallery rooms. She’s right. The word serendipity hints at a certain chance encounter. But at the same time, the artists whose paintings are on view are extraordinary individuals. You cannot ignore them. And that’s what makes the selection noteworthy.

Akram Dost Baloch’s work.

Akram Dost Baloch’s study of faces, muddled faces if you will, is a sight to behold as well as to ponder. It has a bit of a Baconesque touch to it with the difference that his characters are not noisy. There’s subdued agitation in them.

Providing a totally different feel to the show is Tanweer Faruqi’s painting that ostensibly is about a girl striking a pose. The sense of deliberateness is, using modern-day parlance, in-your-face. And herein lies the fun: while imparting a predetermined feel to the exhibit, the artist has derived candidness from the model’s expectation — the anticipation of ‘what will come out of the painting’.

Mashkoor Raza’s equestrian theme and an explosion of colours take the show on a different realm, in a good way, helping the viewer understand the multidimensional nature of the exhibition.

Nahid Raza is a storyteller, a short storyteller at that. It would be so unfair to try and describe her art. A girl, some birds and dense blackness! That’s what you know, that’s what you need to know.

The other participating artists are Abid Aslam, Adeel Zafar, Colin David, Farheen Maqsood, G.N. Qazi, Hamid Alavi, Jamil Baloch, Muhammad Yusuf, Mukhtar Hyder, Nazish, Saqiba Suleman and Zahid Husain Soomro.

The exhibition will be open till June 9.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2014