KARACHI: An incident that happened recently during an international exhibition in Karachi raised many questions about art, artists and the efficacy of creative pursuits. One is not suggesting that the situation has dampened spirits of some painters, sculptors and their admirers. One is merely trying to understand why certain art practitioners and promoters behave the way they do when they’re pushed into a corner (that corner may have to do with politics, wealth or fame) — a query that Ayaz Jokhio seems to be putting across as well in his latest and remarkable body of work on display at the Canvas Art Gallery titled This is not Magritte’s painting.

Ayaz broadens the canvas of the subject by involving European (classical) artworks — as can be gauged from the name of the show — in the scheme of things in an effort to reimagine art and its definition. To get the hang of things, a line from the curatorial statement might suffice: “In an age in which re-appropriation of images is rife due to digital media, reproduction of original works of art into other mediums for consumption and ease-of-access has led to a contemporary cultural ennui, which the artist attempts to highlight and defeat, by providing a fresh perspective on the current state of imagery and image-making.”

This is an extremely important point: imagery and image-making. Are today’s artists leaning more towards image-making, after all it’s the age of social media? Or the transition from a creativity-driven, somewhat bohemian art atmosphere to a consumption-based one was inevitable, and no one saw it coming?

These are not simple points of concern. Ayaz knows that. So he lightens up the topic by producing some startling paintings which commensurate with the theme of the exhibition and at the same time highlight what a brilliant artist he is. By putting frames within frames, and by tilting some of them, he is challenging the viewer to see originality, not in the artworks, but in the eyes that are trying to behold them. ‘Harmony in Blue and Silver: Trouville by James Abbott McNeil Whistler’ (oil on canvas and frame), is a cogent example.

The show concludes on Nov 14.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2019