ISLAMABAD: An exhibition of watercolour paintings titled Prissy Play will open today (Friday) and continue until Sept 23 to showcase the diversity of watercolour work in Pakistan and the various techniques artists of this medium use.

The Gallery 6 exhibition will feature the work of 14 artists, whose pieces depict everything from surrealist architecture and lyrical expressionism to cityscapes, rivers and natural scenery, flowers, camels and horses, malangs, elderly men and rural women.

The show has been curated by Ali Sajid, who graduated with a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Peshawar in 2004 and has been awarded in Pakistan, Albania, the United Arab Emirates and Italy.

Speaking on the day of the exhibition preview, Mr Sajid said: “I try to build the world of landscapes and cityscapes that are the celebrations and cheerfulness of history and the beauty of a city, reflecting the spirits of its time. I do not only capture the image as it is with my brush and strokes, but try to give a life to the place once more.”

The participating artists include A.Q. Arif, Arif Ansari, Asrar Farooqi, Ather Jamal, Fariya Zaeem, Farooq Aftab, Farooq Siyal, Ghulam Abbas Kamangar, Humayun Azam, Javed Qamar, Munteha Azad, Sadia Arif Ansari and Shah Amrohvi.

While discussing his work, Karachi School of Arts graduate A.Q. Arif said: “My point of interest is architecture. I show the complexities as well as its simplicity complementing each other. I usually choose minimum colour. The attention of the viewer does not divert from the objective.”

Another Karachi School of Arts graduate, Arif Ansari, mostly paints nature and focuses on getting the right texture for his subjects. By emphasising on the transparency of watercolours, Mr Ansari captures the fleeting effects of light in his landscapes.

Asrar Farooqi’s work depicts the cityscape of Rawalpindi, from local vans and rickshaws to bustling market scenes, dilapidated buildings, vendors and newspaper hawkers and landmarks such as Lal Haveli.

Ather Jamal’s pieces for the exhibition depict Thari women, while Farooq Aftab from Bahawalpur explores negative areas and seems to adopt the technique of working from light to dark areas, such as in his Boat series.

Bahawalpur-native Humayun Azam said his work focuses on Darawar Fort and its surroundings – animals, people and events – using the wet-on-wet technique and by layering colours. For this exhibition, he has painted pigeons, a common bird in the area.

Self-taught calligrapher Javed Qamar breaks different scripts to create his compositions while maintaining the accuracy of the Quranic verses. He mostly uses light to dark and colour layering techniques.

Sadia Arif Ansari’s work shows her love of flowers, while her textured treatment creates soft hues of layered pigment and light that add new dimension to her compositions.

The exhibition will be inaugurated by Qazi Azmat Isa, a well-known art enthusiast and chief executive of the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2018