ISLAMABAD: The Summer Art Show, an exhibition featuring nine senior artists, opened in the capital on Saturday with 40 pieces on display.

The exhibition was held at the Nomad Art Gallery and featured the work of Syed Najamul Hassan Kazmi, Masood A. Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Ayesha Siddiqui, Riffat Khattak, Tabassum Rizvi and budding artists Komal Shahid and Shafique Farooqi.

Brazilian Ambassador Claudio Lins, who visited the exhibition, said: “Some of the artworks are very impressive and outstanding, made in the Pakistani tradition but with modern style, themes and colour.”

The works are true depictions of Pakistanis cultural diversity rooted in mysticism, particularly the Sufism series by Shafique Farooqui, Mr Lins said.

“Some of the art pieces are so impressive and outstanding that these should be placed in international galleries,” he remarked, and also praised Mr Kazmi’s latest women empowerment series.

Mr Kazmi has been doing miniature paintings – contemporary and traditional – since 1989, but has successfully experimented with contemporary themes, colour and mediums.

His latest giant miniature pieces depicting a woman carrying coffee baskets is very impressive as it juxtaposes the traditional with the modern, said gallery’s curator and director Nageen Hyat.

He spent 17 years in Srinagar and has been regularly exhibiting his work at Nomad for years. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions at home and abroad, and although his forte is miniature painting, he also works in papier-mâché, a Kashmiri art he promotes with a passion.

Mr Farooqui is an artist who has lived in Konya, Turkey, for many years.

He exhibited seven pieces in oil on canvas.

“He is inspired by mysticism and the Sufi tradition of the whirling dervish of Konya. He has painted them in different colours, mostly in vibrant red and blue, and styles. He continues to main mysticism in Pakistan,” Ms Hyat said.

Mr Khan’s recent work is a continuation of his past 18 appearances at various galleries in Pakistan and abroad; his latest work of fish – a symbol of fertility – and the lotus depict the rich romanticism of Bengal.

Mr Ahmed, a self-taught artist in the tradition of Sadequain and Gulgee, freely delves into the romance of classical miniature painting and fuses contemporary styles with stunning results. One discovers ethnic patterns, diverse textures and breathtaking explosions of colour in his work.

“Abrar has been showcasing his works at Nomad but at each appearance he adopts a new vocabulary to paint the essence of truth with lines and layers,” Ms Hyat said.

Contemporary painter Ayesha Siddiqui was perhaps the youngest exhibited artist. She has participated in numerous group shows in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Jordan, China, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Tabassum Rizvi’s work depicts women radiating an aura of light, colour and warmth, their fleeting forms and expressions enhanced by the effects of light and shading.

Her impressionistic strokes create mystery associated with forms and expression, leaving a lot to the imagination of the viewer.

Her ‘Canvas of Life’ is filled with movement, colour, texture and strokes that may be bold or soft, depicting its various facets, she said.

Ms Rizvi added that she experimented with encaustics for this exhibition, one of the oldest forms of recording images; a wax-based medium in which applying layers of the medium creates textures and transparency.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2018