KARACHI: The interconnectedness of all forms of expression is an established subject. In the case of a group exhibition titled Adjective/Verb that’s under way at the Canvas Art Gallery two genres — visual art and the written word (read: literature) — have been put together to focus on, what the organisers of the show call, the “art of appropriation”.

This needs to be elucidated. As per the curatorial statement provided by the gallery, “The art of appropriation is the reinterpretation of existing visuals by either the manipulation of its context or with slight visual transformations. This process of borrowing or reimagining is a kind of contextual critique. It is a witty tool, one used for dissecting and reusing the contextual premise of the original works, to be manipulated into expressing the artist’s own reflections.”

‘Witty tool’ is a claim. What’s undoubtedly witty here is the use of the two parts of speech in relation to the artworks from the Canvas collection made by the half a dozen participating artists — Hasnat Mahmood, Naila Mahmood, Imran Channa, Mahbub Shah, David Alesworth and Ayaz Jokhio.

One is to do with attributes (adjective) and the other with action (verb). Yes, their source material may be taken from an important episode in human history or from a classical piece of art and literature and yes their resultant creative output is amazing. But it’s the originality of the final product in terms of contemporising the subject matter that is what they should be commended for. The attribute-action non-binary is also visible.

For example, in an exhibit a famously documented history of a monarch is encapsulated in a frame with scattered images in soft colours, creating a kind of whirlpool of assorted ideas. It is a piercing metaphor for modern-day mayhem that the 21st century man has to contend with because of an uninterrupted flow of information — good or bad, mostly the latter. It will be hard not to marvel at the artwork for a long time, as is the case with some other pieces.

The exhibition, curated by Sara Mahmood, concludes on April 30.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2021