Dreams can often be incredulously intimidating, but in most cases they come with the appalling characteristic of surprise, which is why these ephemeral visions have the potential to cause deep impacts on the way an individual thinks and acts. Incidentally, artists and writers were the only specialists who could vividly recall their dreams from the obscurest depths of the unconscious and physically transform them into sketches and narratives.

It was during the early 20th century when Surrealism defiantly appeared on the aesthetic horizon with a sure-fire promise of success owing to its uninhibited expression of intimate dreams and fantasies. Artists adopted photo-realism to depict the complex and sometimes frightening images that they recalled from their nebulous dreams. It was during the World War I that Dadaism, amidst Parisian frenzy for artistic innovation, gave birth to Surrealism which spread across the world affecting the visual arts, political vision, social doctrines and philosophy.

Shahid Rassam, has made yet another powerful impression with his 15 oil-on-canvas paintings and eight charcoal-on-newsprint drawings at the Koel Gallery, Karachi, under the title ‘Clockwise Otherwise’. The theme of the art show looms around the interpretation of dreams and the significance of the unforgiving perpetuation of time.

Graphically harnessing the vaguely lingering images that ensue after potentially forgetful dreams is not only intellectually challenging but also requires skilful handling of the representational medium. However, Rassam’s accumulated experience in visionary portrayal transcends the technicalities of rudimentary rendering and technique. He now focuses on the importance of effective communication through compassionate ideas that eventually resonate with most viewers owing to their pristine insight and nearness to reality.

Rassam considers the works of the prominent Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali, a source of rich inspiration. Dali’s fluid clock has almost become central to Rassam’s paintings in the current art show, where he has deployed this element judiciously and in a unique style of his own. With every painting oozing with tasteful realism, the artist has remarkably conveyed the full concept of the composition.

His painting titled, ‘Anticlock XIII’, for instance, portrays a meditating Buddha, split at the waistline, punctuated with clocks on hands, abdomen, head dress and eyes. This painting is a direct response to the Buddhist monks who incite Muslim killings in Myanmar thus defying the Buddha’s teachings of tolerance and peace.

The artist also believes that under the prevalent psychosocial milieu, almost every individual inevitably ends up wearing a mask, most of the times to mimic what they are not. In the painting ‘Anticlock I’, the encapsulated multi-handed female holds a clergyman’s mask with flies around the mouth indicating a carcass nearby. The concept emerges from the decadence that has been forced upon the natives under numerous improvised taboos, while the rest of the world continues with a forward thrust, emancipating in cerebral fields such as philosophy, arts, science and economics.

Rassam’s drawings with charcoal sticks overlaid with newsprint impressions also emphasise the significance of business and economics, which play an effective role in human relationships.

In the coming month, the artist’s 25-foot high figurative bronze-gunmetal sculpture ‘Monument of peace’ will be displayed in Karachi. He has also been commissioned to paint the portrait of Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger), which will be displayed in the Vatican. Furthermore, the Living Arts Centre of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, has commissioned the artist for a 100-foot wide mural. He will also be executing a large mural for the Karachi Press Club after the 2013 elections and later intends to portray 100 verses of the great poet Mirza Ghalib in oils.