November 9, 2002

A visit to Jahangzeb Art Gallery reminds one that there is no dearth of appropriate exhibition spaces in Karachi for emerging artists whom the ‘big’ galleries cannot accommodate. Five such artists came together to express themselves in a group show which will continue through November. Sheraz and Asadullah are making their debut while Shaheen has a few group shows to her credit. Shehzad has held a solo at Indus Gallery and Ramzan Shah is the senior-most among the five.

In a group exhibit, it is essential that all works stand together on some common ground, no matter how subtle the connection may be. This could only be achieved through a careful ‘natural’ selection of the artworks that bind well when looked at in entirety. In this show, the figurative paintings and sculptures of Asadullah , Shaheen and Sheraz form a threesome, while Ramzan Shah’s landscapes and Shehzad Azar’s calligraphy are distinctly out of sync. Therefore, as a platform for individual bodies of work, the show may be powerful but, as a collective, it loses some of its integrity. None of the works has been titled.

Ramzan Shah is a seasoned painter from Quetta whose command over his mediums makes this evident. His practised skill manifests itself in his rich oil colour palette used in painting the Balochistan landscape. The brick-red rugged mountains, tinged with purple hues, form the backdrop of his canvases while the front is a haze of vibrant verdure swaying away in the wind. In his watercolours, there is a shift from landscape to cityscape. The paintings are ‘noisy’ because of the daytime traffic, bustling bazaars and the scurrying passers-by.

The calligraphic works by Shehzad Azar are an intriguing collage of overlapping dried leaves stamped over with Arabic alphabet in bright, luminous colours. The scale of the writing keeps shifting from small scribbles to heavy, centred forms. The letters are either static or revolving in rings. Often, little attempt has been made to mix colour. Instead, the paint has mostly been dabbed onto the surface directly from the tube. Where the paint has been blended to arrive at newer shades, as in a particular work in burnt oranges and browns, the result is certainly much more powerful.

Shaheen, Sheraz and Asadullah reveal their fascination with the human form. Shaheen has worked purely in oils on canvas while Asadullah has prolifically produced both paintings and sculptures. Sheraz’s work seems to act as a bridge between the two via the introduction of plastered forms on wooden frames of his boards.

Shaheen has mostly dealt with female forms, whose pensive faces are often a blurred identity, which is why her work carries no surprises. She has worked in grainy dabs of textured paint forming an interesting surface where the only distinction between the background and the subject is made through the drawing done in stark black, as if with a permanent marker. Her gestural brushwork and linework are both very daring and powerful but her subject and its treatment, somewhat hackneyed.

Close to Shaheen’s works, and in a way, complimenting them are Asadullah’s terracotta faces. Some are serene and others, agonized. Their forms seem sandwiched between the palms rather than flaunting the roundness of their three-dimensional masses. They are left in the pure brick-red hue of their materials, which lends them a certain honesty.

Asadullah’s paintings have little affiliation with his sculptures in terms of visual harmony. They are chaotic, fragmented images borrowing heavily from Cubism. Again, we have the female form making its tired appearance everywhere, juxtaposed with pots and urns. The palette ranges from muddy browns to morbid blues.

Sheraz has ventured into the much-frequented realm of surrealism. Falling apples and floating spheres dominate his azure skies. Sometimes a lonesome figure emerges in a window and then diffuses into the mist. The compositions are often captivating because of sheer simplicity of design and their fresh colours, with oranges ranging from blues and yellows against greens. The ‘treated’ frames provide a novel element in Sheraz’s work and operate more successfully when the forms in plaster travel beyond the wooden frame and into the painting.

All in all, the show presents some interesting new work that is definitely worth a visit.