KARACHI: It is refreshing to see art galleries organising exhibitions after a mentally debilitating period of lockdown due to the pandemic. The Full Circle Gallery took the lead by reopening its doors to art lovers, and its second show ever since, titled Synchrony, reminds us of why art is so important in order to make head or tail of life’s enigmas.

It’s a three-person show which aims to give the viewer a sense of simultaneity of action among the artists. This doesn’t mean that they worked alongside each other; it implies the confluence of painters’ approach to both life and art. Again, it’s not that easy to detect because the three of them come from different backgrounds with varied creative outputs.

Imran Khan plays with colours. They speak to him, it seems, and it’s not a monologue. He, through his feathery strokes, as watercolourists usually do, strikes up a conversation with them which is quite engaging. The figures merge with colours and weave stories, gentle and soft.

Amir Taj, it is clear, is into poetry. The Urdu titles that he’s given to his mix media works, such as ‘Waqt’ and ‘Khwab Silsiley’ give away his fondness for treating all art forms as members of one family. At the heart of his effort, though, is the genre of painting, which like a Kieslowski movie come together with shapes, faint sounds and poetry.

Mahzer Qureshi, as is mentioned in his brief intro provided by the gallery, is a philosophy buff. Now this is an intriguing combination: art and philosophy. While the former is sometimes described as a reflection of life, the latter is almost always defined as ‘the search for truth’. Aren’t both mutually reinforcing? This is the kind of synchrony that all three creative souls have tried to achieve through their endeavours — and they’ve done it pretty successfully.

The exhibition will conclude on Oct 2.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2020