The current exhibition at Art Chowk Gallery, Karachi, titled “Potpourri XXV”, has an edge over the usual lacklustre group shows with rambling, uneven collections. Handpicked from the portfolios of established and promising new artists, it is an engaging mix of quality paintings in many genres. The large number of works, ranging from abstraction, fantasy art, contemporary realism, the new miniature, calligraphic art and the landscape genre, has much to offer in terms of thought-provoking visual content and technical proficiency.

Leaning towards heroic gestures Salman Hunzai’s gouache on wasli miniatures reconfigure Greek sculpture and busts to create valorous figures. A new addition to the miniature milieu this National College of Arts graduate is originally from Aliabad, Hunza. He derives inspiration from the culture of the mountainous region and his current focus is on the sword dance of Hunza.

Away from the mainstream rat race but still full of fervour, Akram Dost’s art continues to voice Baloch angst. Two evocative paintings in “Potpourri XXV”, worked on traditionally carved wood, carry his signature mix of haunting apparitions dissolving or emerging from a fusion of bold colours and folk motifs. Acknowledged for its singularity in approach, technique and rendering Akram Dost’s art gains added value for the ethnicity it purports.

Standout features of Syed Faraz Ali’s paintings, harsh / shocking expressions of his subjects and the hard hit of orange, ochre and turmeric against the bleached white of the paper surface are all there in his coloured ink on paper painting, ‘What dreams may come’. Stark and disturbing the work speaks of human desires snuffled by the over whelming complexity of the changing times.

‘Potpourri XXV’ is an appealing mix of quality paintings in several genres

Neela Gombud I, 2013, Damon Kowarsky

Oblivious to art market demands and changing trends, Mansur Salim continues to paint a very personal, enigmatic expression. He sources ordinary objects and locations, with an accent on the commonplace and the familiar, to create uncanny and unreadable compositions. His paintings at the gallery once again remind us that Salim’s mystique lies in the inscrutability of his narrative and its heavy leanings towards the metaphysical.

Abstraction scored high on the potpourri list. In Abdullah Qureshi’s art play with the free flow of enamel paint remained the crux of his gleaming spreads of colour. Initially painting social issues in a literal and very direct manner Wajid Ali, a 2004 KU graduate, has since moved towards a coded narrative. His painting ‘Journeys taken’ alludes to his art related travels within and beyond Pakistan.

Printmaking was well represented with Damon Kowarsky’s, ‘Neela Gombud and Charburji’ — etching and aquatint on paper. There was appeal and novelty in creation of vegetal, organic rhythms in an otherwise architectural subject.

Existing on the margins the traditional art of landscape painting nonetheless remains evergreen because of its demand with a select clientele. Multiple works by artists Iqbal Hussain, Khalid Saeed Memon, Ramzan Shad, Faheem Baloch and Anwer Ali brought colour and scenic charm to the Potpourri collection.

Oil on digital printed canvas titled ‘A time to sow, a time to reap’ by Masuma Halai Khwaja merited attention. Well-crafted technically, this soft image montage of burqa-clad women, mosque-specific architecture and newspaper headlines referred to the perils of extremism.

The joyous, festive feel in Nahid Raza’s ‘Moon and woman’ in bright vermillion speckled with white, revealed the artist in a lighter mood. Calligraphy gained a new twist in Simeen Farhat’s ‘The blue ain and thinking white; speaking blue’ pigmented and cast resin, acrylic rods. The pieces were inventive, well modelled and very contemporary. Zahid Hussain Farooqui’s technique of painting crumpled banknotes and playing cards to critique current politics will attract viewers looking for instant understanding.

Diverse and visually rewarding ‘Potpourri XXV’ is well stocked with several other known artists’ works and it offers viewers the opportunity to gain an update of current art drifts in a single visit.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, August 30th, 2015

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