KARACHI: An exhibition of artworks by Ghazala Irshad titled Beyond the Shadows opened at the Art Chowk Gallery on Thursday.

In the context of ‘shadows’ in the artist’s work, one is reminded of a dialogic exchange in a Shakespearean tragedy that takes place among Hamlet, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz. Hamlet’s assertion that Denmark is a prison makes them discuss dreams as a sign of ambition, and his comment that a dream itself is a shadow allows Rosencrantz to retort that ambition “is but a shadow’s shadow”.

Irshad is more or less thinking along the same lines. Her focus is on women; and we all know the plight of women in an insular society. However, that is not what the artist is primarily trying to talk about. She hasn’t just placed women in a societal framework; their individuality — that is, their existence as individual beings — is also in the spotlight. In both cases, though, the question of freedom is touched upon. This is perhaps why the viewer doesn’t see their faces. Instead, most characters in the paintings have their backs to the viewer. So, the artist creates sequences which she wants us to see from the characters’ point of view. The issue is: what is their point of view?

Irshad lets us in on that through an array of bold colours and scenes that oscillate between gloomy and marginally bright. An exhibit called ‘The Unremem­bered’ (acrylic on canvas) illustrates this observation very well. While the blueness that the woman in the painting has her attention to suggests the vastness of possibilities (that life may or may not throw at you), it is her posture that imparts a pensive look to the story being told. ‘The Other Lands’ has the same effect despite the relatively brighter atmosphere because of, again, the protagonist’s posture. And in terms of artistic finesse, ‘The Temple of Winds’ is a pretty special work of art.  

The exhibition will continue until May 11.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2017