KARACHI: Naiza Khan is an artist with established credentials. She is a through and through Karachiite, in the sense that more often than not it is the city by the sea that features as the motif and leitmotif in her art.

Her latest exhibition titled Set in a moment yet still moving that opened at the Koel gallery on Thursday is a little different. Why? Answer: she has touched upon history in a way that Karachi in relation to some other important cities of the region becomes part of a puzzle that the artist is keen on understanding — understanding, not solving.

What’s intriguing to note in this particular show is the artist’s use of form as content, and within content the richness of symbolism. Be it a watercolour piece or an oil-on-canvas exhibit, the content doesn’t lose its centrality.

This means that the cartographic shape that the region has taken over the years, despite many vagaries, hasn’t yet come to terms with the issue of space. This is where Ms Khan works wonders. The issue enables her to explore what spatiality entails and what are the things that are not within its purview.

‘The Streets are Rising’ (oil on canvas) is an exhibit that encapsulates this idea well. On the one hand the images crammed into the canvas appear to be encroaching upon each other’s space, therefore muddling the sense of history, on the other hand, they seem to have their distinct identities for which the viewer needs to look at (read: study) them individually. In both cases, the painting tells a story that needs to be told.

One must mention the use of the fish in some of the artworks. Of course, the multiplicity of symbolism is at work here. Through fish, the artist is hinting at subjects such as purification (or lack of it) and freedom of movement (or lack of it). Message conveyed.

The exhibition will conclude on Jan 11.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2018