ISLAMABAD: The Khaas Gallery on Saturday opened another show featuring five artists who focused on human life and their nature.

The show titled ‘Zeitgeist: The Defining Spirit’ has been curated by art critic Aasim Akhtar, and includes portraits and figurative art executed in oil on linen and board, charcoal and graphite pencils on canvas.

Hamza Qazi inquires the heightened forms of visual realism, while what was depicted as his pictorial realisation was motivated by an inner authenticity.

Interested in representation of figures and arrays, his paintings had a strong existentialist character that represented fragments of a splendorous mosaic of human life that he painterly transformed into mysterious banality whereas the backgrounds were unknowable.

Figurative work concepts were Javaid Mughal’s key motivators and the inspiration of his creativity came from the culture of the surroundings. He enjoyed the city culture and the diversity of people and was influenced by it.

“The subjects in my paintings are drawn from personal experiences, and the incidents or happenings around. Sometimes it is something that I observe while travelling or talking to someone,” the artist said in his statement. He is trying to study perspectives of human interactions, portraiture and explore new ways to capture their identity.

Similarly, Madiha Hyder’s new body of work was a conversational dialogue of sorts, a mode of communication that she used to reach out to people around her.

“I’m not an extrovert to begin with. It takes me a while to connect to people. I look for common ground and then if I find a space, I’m comfortable in, I find myself exploring and taking the time to build trust and rapport. That is in fact, the way I address any work, the blank canvas or sheet of white paper becoming my explorative space of inquiry. It’s where my mind wanders,” the artist said on the opening day of the show.

Qadir Jhatial is a visual artist based in Lahore. Qadir Jhatial did his BFA with distinction from the National College of Arts Lahore in 2011, and master’s degree from Beaconhouse National University Lahore where he was awarded UMISSA scholarship and distinction in thesis project.

Jhatial’s inquiry was centered about what was a representation of an image that how the image was viewed, read and interpreted the present age of overwhelming information and knowledge.

His practice evolved from pure painting into a multi-disciplinary practice. This went beyond conventional painting and drawing moving to the use of interactive expression incorporating performative and digital media elements. Jhatial has had two solo exhibitions and showed works in several group shows in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

Another artist in the show, Saqiba Suleman, said beauty was just a short–sustaining bonus of nature.

“It doesn’t last for too long with any individual. People judge you by the looks you possess, some will still consider you beautiful, even if you are not, because of the personality you possess,” she said.

Most people run after appearance rather than personality; they perceive and make inferences about others’ beauty. People form opinions by what they see in a person physically, and respond to that person accordingly,” Ms Suleman added.

In my recent works I am exploring the idea of being judgmental about external appearance,” the artist said. The show will run till January 28.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2023