The question “is painting dead?” has been doing the rounds for half a century, yet we remain fascinated by what the use or meaning of painting might be and, perhaps most importantly, what place it should hold in our society.

Painting is still on the art radar here in spite of its arguable death in the Western milieu. Dethroned by new media arts, the genre lost its supremacy for a while, but its ongoing presence and recent frequency of painterly exhibitions in the metropolis prompts revaluation of the disciplines status.

Paintings’ pictorial, narrative or anecdotal content may still be struggling to adopt a contemporary face but abstractions/imageless art seems to be holding its own. The fact that much abstract art is easy on the eye (and looks good above the sofa) could be one of the attractions for some new buyers, but the seasoned viewer/collector weaned on yesteryears Modernist fare is familiar with the nuances of abstract painting and is well able to appreciate its finer points.

Among the current clutch of art shows Anjum Saeed’s ‘Zameen Aasman Se’, at the Koel Gallery, Karachi, reminded one of the Modernist heydays. Anjum is originally among the talented group of students mentored by Ali Imam during his tenure as principal, Central Institute of Arts and Crafts (CIAC); from there he went on to seek advanced training at the School of Visual Arts and later Parsons School of Design, both in New York.

Her early exhibitions were held at Indus Gallery, Karachi in 1971, Arts Council, Karachi in 1972 and National Arts Gallery, Rawalpindi in 1973. Other than two shows at the Koel Gallery in the last three years, all her recent works have been shown in various galleries, art centres and museums in New York and New Jersey.

Essentially a palette knife painter Saeed indulges in energetic applications of paint to create chaotic spaces on expansive white grounds. Dipping in a multihued palette of blues, greens, reds, yellows and all the hues in between, she opts for busy areas of frenzied strokes amidst spacious spreads of crusty white. Her bold, pungent chromatics layered forcefully, often with gestural swings, on the canvas empowers the works with impact and invites speculation on its intent and purpose.

In abstract art, the artist uses a visual language of shapes, forms, lines and colours to interpret a subject matter, without necessarily providing the viewer with a recognisable visual reference point. This contrasts dramatically with more traditional forms of art which set out to achieve a literal and more representational interpretation of a subject and communicates a ‘reality’ to the viewer.

For Saeed the inspiration for the current show comes from the satellite photographs of the planet, but for many the art will prompt personal responses to the work. Abstract art engages and challenges the intellect but it also engages and challenges the emotions and to fully appreciate it the viewer has to let go of a need to understand what the artist is trying to say and instead tune into their own ‘feeling’ response to the piece. That’s the important connection.

Formerly a Modernist monopoly, abstract painting today is finding favour with younger artists as well which also nullifies its decreed demise. But the question remains, can today’s artist move the once-radical form in a new, meaningful direction? Who are the upcoming abstract painters, that are good and whose work is garnering attention, bringing to the table in terms of art history and contemporary thought? Are they adding to the conversation? While riffing on the past contemporary abstraction should also comment on our own times in terms of thought, language/vocabulary as well as technical innovation.