As a result of the growing trend among galleries for sombre thematic innovation and competitive showcasing, the fervent viewers now stand a greater chance of relishing intelligently sifted artworks that are genuine in expression. Such art shows not only impart immediate visual pleasure to the audience but also make them respond to the artists’ connotations without effort. Above and beyond the obligation to exhibit quality work, the galleries furthermore believe that the connoisseurs’ eye needs to break away occasionally from the flat surface of paintings and perceive three-dimensional works.

To do just that, the season’s initiative to fill the vacuum of spatial art forms has been braved by the Fine Arts Pakistan Gallery by displaying three versatile sculptors: Akbar Khan, Latif Ghouri and Khalid Saleem. Under the exquisite curatorial directions of Rafia Maniar, the superlative integration of artworks indeed transformed the gallery into a serene haven of sculptures.

Khan is a seasoned sculptor who has worked extensively in stone, steel and wood. The magnitude of Khan’s works (over 80 pieces) is the larger chunk of the exhibition, and each of the artefacts has been passionately executed with a distinct objective. The materials range from indigenous granite to onyx, carved brilliantly to generate stylised and symbolic organic forms.  The remnant gouges of the toothed chisel further add interesting textures and a personally humanised feel to the pieces.

The numerous forms that Khan has sculpted include human torsos, busts, animals, marine life and calligraphy. The artist has a strong ability to visualise tangible structures within randomly shaped monoliths which he carves with a minimalist approach depicting familiar life forms. Aesthetically, these sculptures reflect the artist’s mature observation which is evident from the way he embeds his dynamic interpretation of life into the permanence of stone.

Self-taught artist Ghouri, during his childhood, was always curious about shapes, especially when he touched and felt them. This natural affinity to spatial objects heightened his urge to duplicate them. Despite numerous disappointments during the youthful pursuit in sculpting, he vowed to continue his ambition. His aim was to unravel the mysteries of life and convey his findings through sculpture to larger audiences, even if it meant a lifetime struggle. Thus far he has continued to create sculptures from stone, wood, wires, chalk, fibre glass and various metals. With the background of a jewellery designer, Ghouri felt absolutely comfortable with carving miniaturised figurines and statuettes.

The petite human figurines entrapped in glass tubes which the artist refers to as ‘Prisoners’ (of their own desires), have been intricately carved with a delicate hand. Ghouri’s sculpture titled ‘Mother and child’ is an accentuated relief in raw stone, oozing with maternal affection, skilfully rendered with sensitive strokes of the chisel. The contours reflect a rather primitive, yet a more humanised handling with its base left in natural stone that gives the sculpture its aesthetic richness. Ghouri believes in adopting emancipated perception with every step that he takes within the challenging continuum of art.

Saleem, although has been painting in oils and watercolours over the past two decades, his interest in expressing through relief sculptures has emerged only recently. Saleem, with a growing awareness to divine spirituality, has chosen to deploy calligraphic verses for his works in fibreglass and white cement. At this initial stage of sculpting, the artist’s work is rudimentary in technique, nevertheless. His reliance on instinctive expression results in impulsive and unprompted artefacts charged with devout sentiments.

The large volume of work loaded with magnetic diversity displayed at the gallery is indeed a rare opportunity for art lovers to savour, particularly those who yearn to observe an artistic object from all directions. The tough medium of stone, it appears, has been the singular source of inspiration for the participating artists; conceivably, in the same way as a Renaissance artist claimed that his task was to free the human form trapped within the block of stone — be it basalt, granite, gypsum, marble or alabaster!