Iqbal Hussain is an artist who has opened the shutters of the world he lives in to a reluctant ‘other.’ Since his first controversial solo exhibition in the ’80s, his bold disclosures have been lauded universally and shown around the world through teams of documentary filmmakers. He is a prolific painter whose studio is always open to his troubled community who tend to get together after their working hours and chat.

They discuss their problems, brush their hair, and care for each other while the artist quietly records the scene before him. This is a private world, without glitz and glamour as the weary subjects of his work take off their make-up and shed their bling.

In his recent exhibition at the Unicorn gallery, Hussain mounted his boldest work to date depicting the tragedies and hardships of the women of the Heera Mandi of Lahore. Though traditionally they are considered the victims of the male, in his latest work Hussain’s reveals them as the target of rigid, militant women. His images relate to actuality, incidents that have occurred to females without recourse and without choices. The representation of the black clad, armed and faceless figures with which the artist confronts the viewer is extremely disturbing since it cannot be denied.

Among the sequences, one finds the studies of various subjects painted without sentiment. The hospital sequence of paintings depicting patients in hospital wards, originate from the many times he has taken patients to the hospital and stayed around to see them admitted and medicated. The observer joins the women during wedding preparations, the modest dowry laid out on a table for all to see. The painting that contains 16 women is extraordinary, each woman contributing to the whole but no particular one dominating the scene. This artwork took Iqbal Hussain two years to complete and he refers to it as his ‘answer’ to ‘The last supper’.

Included in the display were allegorical paintings; groups of women uniformly dressed and held at gunpoint. The artist creates powerful, dark, dramatic scenes, as well as the lighter images confronting the observer with the humanity of his subjects. One discovers sadness as well as moments of cheer, the love between mother and child and trust between friends. Once the mask of the profession is removed, one recognises the vulnerability of people born into a way of life from which there is little chance of escape.

At times the artist slips away to the tranquility of the river Ravi, and restores his spirits painting the unspoiled landscape with vast skies around him. The artist paints the views from his home, and records the bustling streets that he endows with a timeless quality. Hussain is a compassionate artist, one who offers an insider’s view of a world seldom mentioned by polite society, and he demands understanding for the community he represents. Hussain is committed to the people around him; though he is well-travelled and his work is acclaimed in foreign countries, his work is dedicated to his community and they are assured that he will never leave them.