“While working to please the client or following the market trends, you fall into another category of work. One must be very conscious of it and strictly keep one’s own commercial works at a visible distance from one’s creative expressions,” he suggests.
Muhammad Javed has spent a major part of his life in Lahore and is very passionate about the city, its culture, language and architect. He has played an active role with various groups, working to protect environment of the city and its architectural heritage.
With seven solo shows to his credit, he is working on a new series of paintings for the last couple of years. These works are an important visual record of contemporary Lahore, an overcrowded city going through the worst kind of traffic chaos. Construction works are being executed after demolishing the old buildings and displacing people, living in their habitats for generations.
“I conceived the idea of painting this series during the foggy winters last year while driving daily on the Canal Road from Johar Town to my office at The Mall,” he explains.
“I can’t paint only the beauty; I paint the subjects with a strong narrative that punches the viewer. It’s a responsibility of the artist to honestly express and document the realities of his times.
“The social issues must be highlighted through visual arts and literature but without compromising the aesthetics,” Javed says.
In most of these works, he reflects a good command on medium. Using palette knife technique, he has gradually built these visuals with thick strokes of oil paint. Despite rough and bold strokes, he has comfortably depicted the delicate details.
Javed works with a wide range of colours, but the mellow tones dominate the canvasses. His mature skills, strong sense of design and beautiful compositions transform ordinary chaotic scenes into a visual treat for eyes.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2016