KARACHI: Sometimes it becomes very difficult to find out the connection between certain individuals who are lumped together for one reason or another. The difficulty occurs because each person has his/her own distinct identity; and identity is a broad-based term which includes personality traits, idiosyncrasies and quirks (if any). Similarly it is hard to discover the thread that runs through a group show in which talented artists take part, for art is, or can be, just as idiosyncratic as anything in the world. But an exhibition of works by seven artists, which opened at the Grandeur gallery on Thursday, has a theme: human beings. Or so it seemed to this reviewer.

Shanzay Sabzwari is into realism. The viewer can tell that by even having a cursory look at her acrylic-on-canvas work. The interesting feature of her exhibits is that within that realistic approach there is something which the common man seldom finds real: royalty. The extravagance of not just her model’s appearance but also the generosity with which she uses colours cannot be missed.

Tahir Bhatti’s pen-and-ink pieces speak for his surgeon-like grasp on the pen, so much so that his craft often outshines his subject.

Zohaib Khan ponders over the issue of hanging around for fellow comrades or loved ones who may never turn up. He makes birds (crows) a metaphor for the longing.

Rabia Dawood’s interpretation of ordinary and a few famous people on playing cards is, execution-wise, interesting. Nazarul Islam’s exhibits done in watercolours too have their technical and contextual merits.

However, it is Ali Abrar who impresses the most with his remarkable oil-on-canvas cityscapes. He has tried to portray the life of the average Joe in an everyday, routine pattern, and has done it by creating a certain kind of mellowness all around.

This has made auto-rickshaws and pushcarts etc appear like living beings in a tranquil setting. By doing so, the artist has attempted to impart a new meaning to the word ‘oxymoron’.

The exhibition will continue till June 10.