KARACHI: The title of an exhibition of Aakif Suri’s artworks that began at the Sanat Gallery on Wednesday evening is ‘Part of the story has not been told’. It’s a teaser. Suri knows that those who will view his paintings already know the full story. It’s just that they hesitate to visit that part of the story which is not easy to tell.

So what is it all about? Of course, it is about the society that he belongs to and the identity that he or any individual seeks in society.

Wishful 3

He starts off with an untitled carving on a wasli piece which is as conceptually illusory as it is aesthetically worth looking at. He could have called it ‘contours of comfort and the visibility of nonbeing’.

Now You See Me 2

Then things erupt in the form of ‘I am Fish’ (gouache and spray paint on wasli). It’s an awkward posture assumed by the fish, a posture that makes the fish always feel like out of water.

The ‘Now You See Me’ series (gouache on wasli) features jars and human heads/faces. There is little symbolism here, if any at all, because what Suri is doing through them is to show that not all experiments can go haywire and create Frankenstein. Sometimes a non-result can do more harm than a bad one.

The ‘Wishful’ series deals with the issue of metamorphosis with luxury and a crab-like movement juxtaposed to develop a concept.

But the artist saves his most power-packed punch for the last. It’s an exhibit called ‘King’s Selfie’ (gouache and carving on wasli). There are references here to multiple stories (taken from fairytales as well as from modern-day life, therefore the word ‘selfie’). To interpret the painting would be doing injustice to it.

The show will remain open till Oct 8.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2014