KARACHI: A group show titled Quartet opened at the Full Circle Gallery on Thursday evening. An obvious reason for the name of the exhibition (there may be more) is the participation of four artists in it. It would be difficult to find a common theme that runs through the show, but if one were pushed to find a shared feature in their artworks then it could be said that the four artists’ response to the emotional facet of their creative being is more pronounced than anything else.

It all begins with Rabia Khan’s graphite-on-paper exhibits. Her work, such as ‘Emotional Hoarder’, is about our everyday loaded routines. Some of the goings-on, which we may or may not overlook, in our lives stay with us for a long time. The symbol that the artist employs to suggest that is of a piece of cloth. A piece of cloth is a tangible thing. So this means that the tangible in her work is replaced by the intangible as an indivisible part of our existence.

Ayesha Naveed intelligently turns medium into message in ‘The Hiding Spot’ (acrylic and paper-cut on canvas). She fills the canvas with big images that we not only see but also read. Text, for her, becomes a source to jog her memory and to remind us of the hodgepodge nature of incidences that society constantly throws our way.

Jovita Alvares’s creative expression underlines the seriousness with which she takes her visual experiences. Her affinity with, and fondness for, the city life is quite special. ‘Horses’ is an artwork that’s not a nod to the equestrian-themed paintings and sculptures made by many great artists; rather, it’s her way of recreating what she’s seen on the seaside.

Nimrah Nadeem is interested in the part that memory plays in our socio-cultural growth. The ‘Narrative’ series (mixed media on paper) is a striking example of it where the mist around some (visible) characters overshadows them, as if the characters are used to it. ‘Excerpt 2’ is a manifestation of the same with a slight difference: here, the protagonist appears to be affected by unanswered questions.

The exhibition will run until April 15.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2017