Written by: Nayha Jehangir Khan
Posted on: June 10, 2022 | 
| 中文
Disarray by Yusra Memon
The young and upcoming artists participating have recently graduated from art college, and are ready to showcase their work to a wider audience through the first volume of O Art Space’s “BROADCAST” group exhibition. The twenty-five artists on display are primarily working within painting traditions of miniature, mixed media, oils, graphite, print, paper art and collage with a few choosing to focus on sculpture. With a spectrum of mediums and techniques, we immediately notice that these new artists are firmly grounded in traditional painting practices but their subject matter is formulated through observation of their environment and experiences.
The whole image 14 by Abbas Ali
Their visual language appears to be psychedelic, playful and explorative as ideas are formulating and surfacing. The artists here are experimenting with image-making, mark making and modern techniques of formulating conceptual ideas. Artists who are immersed in miniature painting are Abbas Ali, Ameema Saleem, Eman Obaid, Farah Khan, Ramsha Haider, Rida Batool and Sajjad Roy. The foundation of their practice might have started with painting on wasli, first introduced to artists in the 10th century, but these artists have moved beyond the history and heritage of miniature. We see a destroyed manuscript painted in Abbas Ali’s “The whole image 14 & 15” that feels emotionally charged, the realistic torn edges and deliberately smudged lettering challenges the ideals of perfectionism that are an integral part of miniature painting. Eman Obaid’s self-portrait “Incompletely Complete”, resembles a petri dish where she is being viewed through a microscope seated on an ornate armchair surrounded by a field of pink cells, while in “Here, I Am”, her profile is seen surrounded by a tissue of pink.
Incompletely Complete by Eman Obaid
The creative process of visual interpretation requires being self-aware of emotional and physical responses to life experiences. Artists Hudabia Sarwar, Aleezah Qayyum, Kashif Mangi, Riaz Ali and Zaid Baloch explore deeply the complexities of the human condition by capturing the realism in figuration and portraiture. There is an exploration of the human form using photographic tools and anatomical studies in Riaz Ali’s red paintings. The robotic figure appears to be on an operating table, immobilised perhaps by the thick layer of red gas. The otherworldly treatment of the atmosphere of the space along with the inanimate bodies feels futuristic and dystopian. Aleezah Qayyum paints the transmutation of the human skin that can be seen as gentle colour mixing and blended tones, but gradually starts turning into a study of raw inflamed skin.
Specimen 1.07 by Aleezah Qayyum
Distortion and manipulation of the environment can take several forms in the painting practice. The dismantling of form through colour, line and scale can create new associations and perspectives. Zaid Baloch, Wasia Urooj, Sadaqat Ali, Momina Javed and Ayesha Maheen are interested in the nonrepresentational forms that vibrate with emotional resonance created through movement, texture and patterns. Breaking away from realism, Aleena Rahman and Ali Murtaza create gestural paintings, repeating the human form until it is reduced to form and line. “Blackout Dreams” has aggressive and immediate energy that feels confrontational for the viewer. The canvas is covered in an obscure presence of figures along with a densely covered background that disrupts the depth of field of the painting. Ali Murtaza’s “Family Portrait” has monstrous facial features for each member of the group, revealing the artist's psychological associations with familial relationships.
Blackout Dreams by Aleena Rahman
Capturing the nature of stillness can be expressed in the drawing of objects found in the artist's surroundings, as seen in the meticulously detailed works of Hassan Channa, Faiqa Peerzada, Rabia Nazir and Yusra Memon. Through their observational studies of objects in relation to their environment, these artists are able to create compositions that are riddled with narratives and storytelling.
Surrounding by me by Hassan Channa
The gradient of grey tones applied in “Surrounding by me” series by Hassann Channa, plays with light and shadow capturing the quiet moments throughout the day. This documentation of life can be translated into sculptural objects as seen in “Early youth and sadness I” by Faiqa Peerzada, where she transforms a wilting flower with its stem and leaves into a durable and weighted object of stoneware clay. The dizzying print, “Disarray”, by Yusra Memon feels familiar, as it captures an obscured double image that could be a cosy home garden or perhaps a laundry room with cabinets and baskets.
Early youth and sadness I (primrose) by Faiqa Peerzadaa
Exploring architectural forms and geometry can be a meditative study of the building blocks of what makes up our visual reality. The repetitive nature of mark-making in Iqra Majid, Umme Habiba and Qasim Ali Hussain's works showcases their dedication to finding motifs, patterns and balance within their compositions. Their work features a psychological puzzle inviting the viewer to explore optically, entering into a visual world directed according to their rules.
Untitled by Raiz Ali
The artists featured in “BROADCAST Vol I”, reveal that Pakistani contemporary art is a passionate pursuit that challenges the viewer to reflect on themselves and their environment. A strong collection of works, the group exhibition provides a nurturing atmosphere for artists to connect with the wider art community. O Art Space continues to promote emerging artists from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds. Looking forward to another volume released under this initiative.
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