ISLAMABAD: A group show featuring new and old pieces by a dozen artists started at the Nomad Gallery on Thursday.

More than 30 pieces were put on display including miniatures, landscape and calligraphy on various mediums.

“The artworks are divers capturing compelling imagery, thought processes and impressions,” said Nageen Hyat, the curator of the show.

The work of senior artist Najamul Hassan Kazmi is a blend of traditional and contemporary miniature art. The new paintings depict the resilience and empowerment of women using wasli with intricacy, red and yellow colours and stones and crystals.

Two huge paintings portray the Mughal Darbar, with courtesans talking, singing, dancing and reading, musicians playing music and also portray hunters.

Abrar Ahmed has used vibrant colours in the narrative form of abstractionism. The layered space surrounding the subject is balanced with symbols of rhythm to produce a myriad of classic and folk art designs.

A self-taught artist in the tradition of Sadequain and Gulgee, Mr Ahmed has been showcasing his work in solo and group exhibitions in Pakistan and abroad since 1994 and has been well received.

The work of impressionist artist Ubaid Syed is a composition of mixed metaphors and disconnected, random feelings in traditional and contemporary style.

Some of his old paintings are also on display at the gallery. One of them is of the Nordic lights in acrylic on canvas using bright, vibrant colours.

A member of the Swedish Artists Organisations, Mr Syed said: “Art is an ideology in image. It is like a rainbow consisting of harmoniously juxtaposing discrete parts”.

Abdul Jabbar has painted real life scenes from his surroundings in a different manner.

Born and brought up in Mirpurkhas which is a remote town in Sindh that does not have many recreational activities to offer, Mr Gull was inspired and motivated by a signboard painter to attempt calligraphy and sketches.

He later explored the various disciplines of art at the National College of Arts, Lahore. He has taught at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi for over 11 years and has developed a unique style. He uses any medium that best suits his concept.

Another artist from Sindh, Hussain Chandio is inspired by the diverse colours of Mehran and its people. His three new paintings, done in the American artist Warren Keating’s style of aerial view depict the unending journey and hard life of Thari women and their resilience.

Samina Ali Akhtar has combined Mughal history with contemporary issues. She has done most of her paintings in mix-medium and gold and silver leaf with rich colours.

Ms Akhtar carved a niche for herself in the world of art by painting Faiz’ poetry and has 243 paintings on permanent display at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad.

Abstract cubo-expressionist painter Tayyaba Aziz has done her paintings in oil on canvas which highlight feminism issues. They include distorted figures and clocks.

“Time is what keeps everything from happening at once. We always compare our present experiences to our dim memories from the past. I show psychological time in a complex manner, it is tangled in a drapery of past experiences,” she said.

Rumi admirer Mahvish Noman has depicted metamorphosis and resurrection in her paintings.

“When we die and are buried, we evolve and achieve freedom and sovereignty,” she said.

Interested in world politics and social dynamics Syed Faraz Ali’s concepts evolve from society at large.

“I critique systems that militate against values of resilience, truth, and beauty. My work interrogates the prevalent, all-consuming trend of commercialism in Pakistan, as well as the passionate intensity of obscurantism that is smearing the face of reason and our human ability to question,” he commented.

The show will continue till mid-January from 11am till 7pm except on Fridays.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2019