KARACHI: It is more than heartening to know that artists from smaller towns in Pakistan have oodles of talent and are not afraid to dream big. After all, the journey towards achieving great feats begins with a dream, and in technically terms, with a dot — a dot that can stretch into a line or even an image. The alumni show of the Centre of Excellence in Art and Design (CEAD), Jamshoro, began at the Indus Valley School Gallery on Wednesday. The show is teasingly titled ‘1st Dot’. And why not? It is only by connecting these dots that the viewer can get a clearer picture of the kind of artists that the institution has been producing regularly.

Adnan Jutt uses metal as if he’s using clay. I say this because the young artist seems to be utterly at ease with the medium. He comes across as someone who has spent a lifetime moulding and tweaking metal at will. The artwork that he’s put on display speaks of boundaries that society sets for individuals and groups. He uses the symbol of an endearing animal and puts it in the thick of things. The posture he gives to the piece is not one that indicates movement. Rather, it signifies a kind of inertia that’s caused by wonderment or amazement. Liberation is what Jutt’s subject is looking for.

Sandeep Kumar perhaps makes the most popular artwork of the exhibition. The reason for that is he keeps the message simple and at the same time doesn’t allow the viewer to move away from his work just like that. His artwork: the coin that the government of Pakistan has issued has a weepy image in the centre. But that’s not it. The magic lies in the date, the year 1997, that the currency appears to have been issued in. This is the year where something important happened. It’s up to the viewer to go back in time and figure out what.

In traditional terms, the painting made by Qasim Joyo is a lovely reminder of how conventional art can easily fit into the relatively new (conceptual) scheme of things. The old building, the beat-up vehicle, the dirty lane, all are there; and yet the artist wants the haze to envelop the picture, heightening its overall effect, suggesting it’s the beholder who needs to see it differently because the scene is not unfamiliar. This can also be said about Farina Sheikh’s interesting looking snakes-and-ladders artwork.

The exhibition, containing works of 43 artists curated by Habib Phulphoto, will continue until March 4.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2015

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