KARACHI: No matter how dear you hold traditional values in art or any other walk of life, the inescapable fact is that the digital world is here to stay; and not just stay, it will keep exploring creative vistas that will keep blurring the line between reality and fantasy.

This might not be the idea behind the show titled The Grid that can be seen at the Full Circle art gallery, but it, for sure, proves that digital art is becoming increasingly unavoidable for modern-day artists.

The six artists that have put their works on display (Adnan Ali, Amara Sikandar, Fatima Baig, Marium Jajja, Mahoor Jamal and Sara Bokhari) in the exhibition have a diverse range of influences. Formally trained or not, the thread that runs along their work is their passion for art. Not the traditional art forms, which they like, mind you, but the kind of creative pursuits that are more in line with 21st century digitised language.

And yet, rather interestingly, the subject matter(s) that they have chosen somehow doesn’t deviate too much from the conventional content that one gets to see at art galleries on a regular basis — from the issue of visual identity to tattoos to characters from children’s programmes, the viewer will find a great deal to relate to. This is where the fun lies. While the technique employed by the artists may be contemporary, it’s the content that catches the eye of the viewer. Does this mean that at the end of the day it’s ‘what you’re saying’ that matters and not ‘how you’re saying it’? Or is it the artists’ tremendous craft that doesn’t let the viewer to think about the medium? Perhaps the answer is: a bit of both. Though this writer leans more towards the second reason.

The show concludes on June 24.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2019