KARACHI: Although philosophical notions of time and space espoused by 20th century scientists and philosophers have not lost their relevance, the artist community in the 21st century at large sees time and space, especially the latter, in physical terms. This has mainly happened because of the unnerving sociopolitical events whose unending onslaughts never seem to give artists the time to breathe. This should be kept in mind while seeing an exhibition of Farrukh Adnan’s works titled Enigmatic Spaces that is under way at the Koel art gallery.

Adnan uses pen and ink to express himself. This is understandable. Space in contemporary times is more of a gray zone for thinkers. For those who hold the reins of geographical boundaries, however, take things differently. This is where the question of roots comes in. Therefore the artist tries to delve into the issue in an exhibit called ‘From Rooted to Above’.

But this is not an easy subject to tackle, and Adnan is aware of it. This realisation is evident in ‘Fragmented Arch’ where fragments appear to speak more about the same issue in a synecdochic way.

And how can one forget or forego the past’s connection with the present? So the artist creates a series with ‘land’ as its main feature. Land has a physicality to it that is hard to deny but easy to question. The artist comes up with pieces such as ‘Excavated Land’ and ‘Mysterious Land’ to highlight this point, and in the process raises a few more questions that take the viewer by surprise. These queries are about the continuum of space. Obviously, the past-present link cannot be explored unless the viewer takes into account the impact of geographical changes, brought about by man, that have made space a difficult-to-discuss reality — physical reality, at that.

The exhibition will end on July 18.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2017