‘Tuckh-tea, Tuckhta, Tuckkht’ was the title of Iqbal Geoffrey’s recent solo show at Lahore’s National College of Art’s Zahoor ul Akhlaq Gallery. The 19 assorted works on display were mostly old works, with only a few that were new and made in the year 2012. Pertaining to “Emptiness / dislocation / prescription / proscription”, the intuitive rationale of the artist did manage to create an ambience that alluded to the aforementioned description, even though in an obtuse manner. Geoffrey is known for his often scathing comments on society, especially with reference to hypocrisy, exploitative social structures and mediocrity. His contempt for all this, as well the way art is typically created and critiqued, often comes out in his enigmatic visuals and particularly in the way he titles them. Even his price tags tend to be significant, and as in this exhibition, sport the religiously important numbers, 786.

Geoffrey is not only an artist but also a barrister with a degree in Law from Harvard, and known for his pro bono cases. This mindset overlaps in his art, and his works are more about ideas and intuitive musings, rather than painterly expertise. His highly intuitive paintings of the ’60s lead on to collages and assemblages, and he is known more for the latter. Often utilising items which might otherwise be considered as trash, like old correspondence, magazine cuttings, stamps and stationary, he assembles these to make intriguing images and patterns that suggest a riddle like narrative.

The latest showing of Geoffrey’s work was more of a celebration of the artist’s contribution to art, and therefore the old work of the ’60s, ’70s and ’90s were included. The artist’s eccentric mindset was symbolised in that the way a row of small posters saying, “ I am a fan of Iqbal Geoffrey and so was Leonardo Da Vinci!” were hung across the gallery. As for the new visuals, these included one small collage and two large painted canvases. The former was in the artist’s familiar style and was an amalgam of pasted items and painted or drawn, lines and shapes. The postal stamp bearing the portrait of Arfa Karim, Pakistani computer whiz kid, who passed away recently, was a small but significant part of the enigmatic visual created. As for the painted canvases, these were a messy amalgam of colours, with green hues made murky with crimson, as if to depict a landscape that had been through a bloody episode. Titled, ‘In search of an ideal landscape’ they reminded one of our local scenario; anarchic, disgusting and murky.

The older works mentioned earlier were mostly collages with obvious references to the artist’s life and times. Titled, ‘Biographic inbetweenities’, they included abstract and symbolic patterns as well as more intricate imagery via photo clippings, stamps, stationery and drawings, as well as a couple of more straightforward poster like visuals including a photo of his young days, and one of actress Marilyn Monroe. The overall mood of the artist in current times was perhaps epitomised by an almost blank white canvas with the words ‘Emptiness’ stamped in dull grey across the lower half. Titled, “Emptiness (1960 and future)”, it was the only work without a price tag.

Nonetheless, the highlight of this exhibit was a publication by the PNCA, The Art of Iqbal Geoffrey, edited by Zoha Haider. This impressively bound and immensely colourful coffee table edition eulogising the artist’s life and work, and displaying the images of innumerable collages, was the proverbial icing on the cake for the veteran artist.