ISLAMABAD: An exhibition featuring works by National College of Arts Rawalpindi graduates of 2017 titled Re-enactment of Dreams opened at the Satrang Art Gallery on Tuesday.

Featuring Rohama Anwaar, Neeli Ahmed, Mahnoor Asad, Noor Fatima, Omair Kamran Mirza and Komal Nadeem, the exhibited works include contemporary mixed medium paintings, sculptures, 3D work and installations.

The event was inaugurated by the resident representative of the International Monetary Fund to Pakistan, Maria Teresa Daban Sanchez who extended her congratulations to the artists and said she is thrilled that the majority of artists’ displaying their work are women.

An abstract oil painting, ‘Hide n Seek’, by Omair Kamran Mirza greets the viewer on the right side of the gallery entrance. It is the first of four of his displayed art work and each follows the similar theme of abstract expressionism.

His work is unified under anxiety —the colours are harsh and clashing, the symmetry or the lack of it has a peculiar slant and often has masklike, vacant faces and lonely ?gures, that perfectly embody what Mirza refers to as “remembering dreams for a short lapse of time”—the de?ning quality of so many expressionist works.

Adjacent to this is Noor Fatima’s ‘A Moment’s Dream’, an installation of three painted wooden planks that is simply pure abstraction or non-objective art that sets out to portray no concrete reality at all but works to create a response to the world, rather than functioning as a window through which the artist may view a part of it.

Ms Fatima’s other pieces included a collaborative video installation with fellow artist Mahnoor Asad and a porcelain and wood four-piece sculpture installation titled ‘Endless Reflections’.

Another contemporary artist, Rohama Anwaar, indulges the viewer in a series of four similar art pieces that are digital prints on a printing sheet.

The selection of dark hues is suggestive of the obscure subject matters her paintings set out to demonstrate. Her art is related to the prevalent social stigmas and taboos in society which is tainted in morbid greys.

Similar to the sullen theme, Neeli Ahmed and Komal Ahmed’s art is shaded in sorrow.

Using dark tones and subtle hues, both artists portray despair, struggle and a sense of loss. Realism coupled with expressionism, their work is captivating yet leaves the viewer feeling grief and anxiety.

Considering the theme of the exhibit, the underlying tones entirely demonstrate nightmares stained on canvas rather than the exhilarating spiritual awakening or reflections in a dream.

In contrast to this, Mahnoor Asad’s contemporary art pieces, ‘Timeless Dream’ and ‘The Infinite Dream’ definitely stand out particularly for their brighter context and relevance to the exhibit’s theme.

Her work take inspiration from the particularly distinctive Léger’s brand of Cubism where she uses watercolour and pen on wasli to explore her fascination with time and dream.

She depicts a whirlpool of illusion and reality; her pieces are modernistic and intriguing with fresh, bubbling energy, more of which would’ve entirely changed the context of the exhibit.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2018