Written by: Sana Shahid
Posted on: May 19, 2025 | 
| 中文
One too many mornings by Salar Marri
The exhibition fugue/body at Khaas Contemporary brings together the works of three artists, Nabeel Naveed, Salar Marri and Shamir Iqtidar, each exploring different aspects of the human experience. Though all the artists have a distinct style and focus, the show creates a strong emotional thread that ties their works together, inviting the viewer to reflect on themes of memory, conflict and identity.
Nabeel Naveed’s paintings are small in scale but rather heavy in atmosphere. Every artwork carries a quiet intensity, like a moment frozen in time. His works ‘Two Explosions, Fallen Soldier, Bending Officer and Playground’ use oil on canvas to explore the presence of violence in daily life. There’s a certain stillness in his brushwork, a way he captures scenes that feel almost dreamlike, even when the subject matter is deeply political or haunting. For example, Fallen Soldier could be about war, but the way it’s painted, it also feels deeply personal like mourning someone you never met but somehow know. Similarly, Playground evokes unease, as if the innocence of the title is being quietly undermined by what’s going on in the image. Naveed’s ability to show restraint, both in color and composition, makes his work emotionally powerful without being loud.
Fallen Soldier by Nabeel Naveed
Salar Marri brings a completely different energy to the show. His titles alone ‘Why are you angry?, One too many mornings, Is it a video?, and Let me be the one’, feel like snippets of conversations or the beginning of poems. His paintings are more experimental in terms of medium, including oil on rice paper and linoleum, and that texture is evident. There’s a feeling of layers, not just physical, but emotional. His piece ‘Is it a video?’ almost dares you to look at it like a screen, as if the painting might shift or glitch when you turn your head. Marri’s artworks feel like they are trying to decode the messy, contradictory way we relate to each other and to ourselves. There’s both confusion and comfort in his paintings, like he’s showing us how uncertain the world can be, but also how we survive inside that uncertainty as the human nature is instinctively the survival mode when required.
Why are you angry? by Salar Marri
Shamir Iqtidar, whose large-scale canvases are full of movement and color. His paintings ‘You and I in unison, Hemlock, Hiding in plain sight, and Cadence’, are more abstract than literal, but they still manage to evoke emotion. In Hemlock, there’s a tension between beauty and danger, the way the poisonous plant itself is both elegant and deadly. Hiding in plain sight is one of the most compelling works in the show, the title alone invites multiple interpretations, and the imagery seems to pulse with energy. His use of color is bold but not overwhelming, and the compositions pull your eye across the canvas in rhythmic patterns, much like the title Cadence suggests. Iqtidar’s paintings don’t tell a story directly, rather they make you feel like you’re on the edge of one like something is about to begin, or has just ended, and you’re caught in that in-between moment.
Hiding in plain sight by Shamir Iqtidar
What makes this exhibition work so well is the contrast between the artists, but also the harmony in their shared themes. All three are dealing with the idea of the body, not always in a literal sense, but in how it holds memory, trauma, joy, presence or experiences. The title fugue/body is a clever choice. A “fugue” in music is a complex pattern of repetition and variation, and in psychology, it refers to a state of dissociation or escape. That dual meaning fits this show perfectly. The works feel like echoes of thoughts, scenes we may have half-forgotten, or feelings we can’t quite name. The “body” is present in different ways, a fallen figure, a ghostly face, a rush of color that hits you in the chest.
Playground by Nabeel Naveed
The smaller works, like Naveed’s, draw you in closely, asking you to look slowly and carefully followed by Marri’s textured paintings challenge how we perceive meaning, almost like visual riddles and finally, Iqtidar’s larger pieces open the space up again, giving you room to breathe and absorb everything. Together, they create a rhythm, quiet, sharp, expansive that matches the mood of a fugue.
This show doesn’t try to offer clear answers or narratives, and that’s what makes it successful. It trusts the viewer to feel their way through the work, to sit with discomfort or ambiguity. It’s a quiet, introspective exhibition, but one that lingers long after you leave the gallery. You walk away not with a single impression, but with a mix of feelings like remembering a dream you can’t quite explain, but that still changes your mood for the rest of the day.
You and I in unison by Shamir Iqtidar
In a world that often demands clarity and speed, fugue/body gives us space to slow down and look inward. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t always have to shout to be heard, sometimes it’s the whisper that stays with you the longest.
You may also like:
