The ‘Other’ is shown as a suppressed and forgotten part of oneself through Anwar Saeed’s depiction of isolated blue bodies rendered faceless by their underwear. It explores an individual’s struggle with identity in face of a society that insists on creating stereotypes based on sexuality.

It is difficult to decipher whether the bodies are of the same person or portray multiple individuals, a technique that allows the artist to explore the various facets of ones identity.

One of the first prints that Anwar Saeed created was inspired by an English body builder and wrestler called Eugene Sandow who visited India in 1910 and became so popular that his photograph was framed in many cigarette and paan shops. After partition Sandow was forgotten but the word remained in the public consciousness. The name was also used to describe an aspiring wrestler and later on a two person act that traveled the city bending iron rods with their bodies also became known as Sandow.

Identity, just like Sandow's name, is more than just a form of identification. - text by Zehra Naqvi

The exhibition continues till October 4rth 2012 at Canvas Gallery, Karachi.