KARACHI, May 2: In the history of art, painters and sculptors, not to mention writers, have always had a fascination with equestrian themes. Some have tried to use them as multiple metaphors while others have simply endeavoured to interpret the different galloping movements which are difficult to capture in a moment of time.

Artist Shan Amrohvi’s latest exhibition of artworks, which is going to be concluded on Friday (May 3) at the Citi Art Gallery, underlines the many possibilities that this kind of art can bring to light.

First up, there are the galloping horses highlighted with colours that are not outlandish but gel well with the subject. The artist has managed to arrest the right ‘feel’ as the animals dash through in pairs or groups, which implies that together they have an inherent urge to either move ahead of the other or to have a sense of competition borne out of hurriedness that sometimes animals can’t always reconcile with. However, what Shan Amrohvi is also trying to achieve is to flesh out the role of the rider. In a few artworks the riders are seen leaning awkwardly as if getting off-balanced and in other pieces the similar position looks like part of the plan. This is done reasonably well as the viewer makes an effort to figure out the postural angles of the artworks.

The exhibition has some other artworks too which may not be directly related to the equestrian theme. Their abstraction is quite interesting and makes a worthwhile contrast with the rest of the exhibits on display.—Peerzada Salman