KARACHI: The Metamorphosis is, arguably, one of Franz Kafka’s most read novels. Its opening line has become iconic: “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.” The transformation from a human to an insect of the character is what the Austrian author termed as ‘metamorphosis’. Doing so, he intelligently tells the reader how perceptions change as soon as the things or people that we’re accustomed to seeing in a certain way assume a different shape.

A two-person show featuring works of Muhammad Umar and Rabia Ali at the Koel Art Gallery is titled Kosmos: Material Metamorphosis. It doesn’t seem to directly take inspiration from Kafka’s story, but does have a resonance of it in terms of executing the idea.

It’s a carefully chosen name for the exhibition. Materiality is to do with tangibility, anything that one can touch. This, in turn, means that the things that we can’t touch and only feel — such as grief, happiness etc — may not be the focus here. But that’s the smart bit of the show; it is about both tangible and intangible aspects of existence. It’s the technique of the two artists that distinctly differs, something essential for such a display.

Umar, with his brass, sheesham and ebony wood work enables the viewer to see the solidity of the objects (his subject) change into delicate forms imbued with feeling.

Rabia Ali, on the other hand, with her lovely acrylic and enamel on canvas pieces plays with vivid colours, swishing strokes and the beautiful use of light to turn something personal into visually poetic and relatable even for someone who isn’t an art buff. She works with delightful creative frenzy (read: passion) which only artists that are utterly immersed in their work and consumed by the mysteries of life can.

The exhibition concludes on Wednesday (tomorrow).

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2023