September 11, 2004

When Mohammed Kazim’s work took on a decadent look and feel, the artist groped for a way out of the rut. His current collection on display at Indus Gallery may appear to be a recast of the old, but a closer look reveals that some fresh elements, introduced by the artist, may provide him with a new palette of creativity for future works

Senior artist Mohammed Kazim is displaying his latest collection of paintings at the Indus Gallery. Known essentially as a printmaker this transition towards painting charts a new course in the artist’s career. Affecting a shift, be it in style or medium is by no means an easy process for an established artist, and for Kazim the move is still being resolved for he contends that “change doesn’t come overnight, it takes its own time.”

In the early 80’s, a visit to Japan acquainted the artist with Japanese printmaking methods and paper recycling processes. A two-month residency under a Chicago artist’s international programme gave him the opportunity to work with the distinguished printmaker David John at Ancor Graphics. His experiences helped the artist evolve his own technique of crafting embossed relief prints on recycled paper. Having travelled extensively through Rajasthan, Kazim is thoroughly familiar with the Indus Valley region. Inspired by the design components of this ancient culture, he has developed his own imagery from its figurative sculpture, motifs, symbols, seals and hieroglyphs.

Kazim’s research and study also led him to the conclusion that in the rural cultures the basic workload of daily living is borne mainly by women. This for him is reason enough to make women the main subjects of his works. (The very fact that the female figure is the most commonly drawn aesthetic object should also be taken into consideration here). Indeed, it was the embossed print and the specific figurative narrative drawn and painted on it that gave Kazim’s work its singular status.

An early 1994 exhibition of paper, relief and etching prints by Kazim revealed a raw rudimentary art practice mimicking cave art in style and form. The artist tried to simulate the texture and colour of weather-beaten stone and brick tablets found at archeological sites and attempted to juxtapose them with primitive signs and ciphers. His imagery became more defined as he began to introduce peasant women performing domestic chores. This new development was well received. The Moenjodaro series was born and with it came popular appeal. The next few years saw Kazim busy making relief prints crowded with choli clad women in broad white bracelets, primitive patterns, icons and artifacts of Indus Valley in earthy hues of ochre and terracotta.

Eventually having exhausted his repertoire of fossils and relics, he then eased into the mediaeval era of the Rajasthani civilization. Bejeweled with intricate finely worked ornaments and rich, vibrantly hued costumes, he now painted indolent women from a decorative cultural milieu. As he progressed in the same vein, his works took on a decadent look and feel. The artist had begun playing to a gallery. A sort of “sameness” had set in and the novelty of the embossed print began to wane. Caught in a rut, Kazim struggled for a way out.

Resorting to oil on canvas and acrylic on board in his current show at Indus Gallery, Kazim has brought forth a collection titled “Past into Present, Indus Civilization.” The work at first glance is just that, a recast of the old into the new. The dry sandpapered roughness of his prints is reproduced in paint; even the colour palette is similar. It also seems as if the Moenjodaro woman with her typical profile, posture and elongated limbs is etched into the artist’s memory. Modernizing her dress code and her surroundings has not as yet been able to change her personality. She still smacks of Moenjodaro and Kazim is still a victim of his own signature. Some attempts at sketching a western figure in this show at Indus, are inconclusive and need to be developed further.

However, there is a welcome breakthrough of colour patchwork in the background. Replacing the motifs and the historical emblems, common to his previous works, are spatial divisions of colour in complementary and contrasting hues. This aspect is new to Kazim’s oeuvre and if pursued logically could bring some semblance of modernity to his otherwise archaic works.

Mohammed Kazim graduated as a print maker from the Karachi School of Art in 1978 and went on to work as a graphic designer at Pakistan Televisions Karachi Station. He won appreciation abroad in the 1990s when his work was acclaimed in the fourth Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Wakayama, Japan, and several editions were bought by collectors. This was followed by an exhibition in Poland and then in 1992 at the Norwegian International Print Triennale, Frederikastad, a record of 27 editions of his prints were bought by collectors. He continues to participate in this particular show held every three years in Norway. The latest foreign entry of Kazim’s work has been this year at the Fourth International Prints Festiva Gravura, Euora in Portugal. Here at home Kazim has had eight solo exhibitions since 1995 with countless group participations on the side.