KARACHI: What differentiates an artist’s sensibility from that of a non-artist’s (let’s not use the phrase ordinary person for the latter) is the ability to soak up a situation or incident affecting society in such a way that it almost comes across as something that’s part of that artist’s genealogical make-up. It stays with him for, if not forever, as long as the artist is able to give expression to what he has absorbed.

This seems to be the case with the young and talented Rahim Baloch. An exhibition of the latest body of his work titled Microcosm of Innocence may be seen at the Chawkandi Art Gallery.

None of the gouache-on-wasli paintings have a caption. Rightly so, because there’s no need for it: the remarkable artworks are a profound and poignant expression of Baloch’s feelings about something that’s personal but extends into an impersonal dimension. The personal and the impersonal have a common factor: childhood. The reference to innocence in the title of the show is a give-away. That said, interpreting the pain reflected in the paintings as symbolising loss, or something that’s been snatched away from you, would be stating the obvious. Baloch is talking micro but saying macro. Here’s how:

The innocence that Baloch is alluding to is the innocence of a society that has given in to callousness. It is both a political and social statement. The honeybee and the flowers that occupy his artworks are a potent symbol of societal belonging. However, it is the subtlety with which he has pointed out the shortcomings in that belonging which elevate his effort to a level that impresses the viewer no end. The crescent-and-star artwork is one example of it. It is art without being arty. It is pain made visible without creating fuss about it.

The exhibition will remain open until Dec 28.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2015