Peerzada Salman – Canvas Gallery

18 April 2019

Being human – Dawn

Three of the artworks on display at the exhibition.—White Star

KARACHI: Man and nature cannot be separated. But is that the case for someone who’s lived in an urban setting, with wonders of technology all around them? The answer is yes and no. Nature makes a human being’s journey as flesh and blood a less philosophical undertaking. And urbanity opens new vistas for a creative mind to explore. This is what artist Mujtaba Asif is trying to achieve by creating a modern world and what constitutes it with the caveat that we need to be careful about losing sight of our instinctive selves. An exhibition of his artworks titled Time to Navigate at the Canvas Gallery, which is going to conclude on April 18 in collaboration with Vasl Artists’ Association, is a stark reminder to us of how important it is to strike a balance between a constructed environment and an organic one.

The clue to Asif’s idealistic drift, which by the way is marked by finesse and precision, is in the statement that he’s submitted for the viewer — it is pretty poetic as well.

I’m a human being
Why do not you accept it?
I want to live
Why do not you let me live?
I want to celebrate every moment of life
I want to feel the smoothness of new and old leaves of the rose
I wish my skin to be wrapped on its stem, so tightly, so generously…

These words clearly suggest the artist’s longing for things with strong tactile sense. But looking at his work, for example ‘Panzer Temple’ and ‘Sherman Amusement Park’ (UV print on acid free paper) or for that matter the ‘Apartment’ series (hammer, automotive paint and hardener on acid free paper) may give the impression that he wants the viewer to prefer the visual to the tactile. The fact is that both senses work seamlessly together as if they serve the same purpose. This is a very interesting approach to art. One that must be appreciated.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2019

Peerzada Salman

Source: Dawn

4 April 2019

Marjorie leaving Pakistan after 60 years – Dawn

MARJORIE Husain speaks at the event.—White Star

KARACHI: It was an evening that art lovers and practitioners will remember for a long time; some might not be able to forget it for as long as they appreciate art. And a few of them were teary-eyed, understandably so.

The venue was the Canvas Art Gallery which had organised on Tuesday a farewell tea party for eminent art critic Marjorie Husain who, after living in Pakistan for more than six decades, is leaving for England on Friday.

The moment news of Ms Husain’s leaving broke, it created a buzz in art circles. Her husband Hamid Husain passed away on March 21, which was extremely distressing. That made Tuesday’s event all the more important.

City’s art luminaries gather to bid adieu to seasoned critic

A big number of admirers of Ms Husain gathered at the gallery. They included renowned artists (Wahab Jaffer, Mehr Afroz, Amin Gulgee, Abdul Jabbar Gul, among others), critics and members of the media. Ms Husain, as graceful as ever, sat in one of the sofas placed in the upper left part of the gallery. She met everyone who had come to say goodbye with a smile on her face.

Half an hour into the event Sameera Raja, who runs the Canvas Gallery, requested Ms Husain to say a few words and if anyone else wanted to share their feelings, they too were welcome.

Ms Husain thanked the guests for coming to the farewell function. One of the guests, in a lighter vein, suggested that her name be put on the ECL [so that she couldn’t leave us]. Wahab Jaffer recalled the time when he first met her. He said he had known her for 50 years, and regretted that her invaluable services to Pakistani art hadn’t been acknowledged at the government level. To which Ms Husain responded that she had never sought that. Another guest remarked, “She’s the best of the British.”

Ms Raja spoke about the Artists’ Association of Punjab, highlighting the days when Ms Husain would visit the province, and the big number of followers that she has there. She extended her gratitude to the guests for showing up on Tuesday and to those “who are here in spirit”.

Ms Husain came to Pakistan in the 1960s after her marriage to Hamid Husain. In the beginning she was known as a brilliant artist. Subsequently, her reputation as a distinguished critic grew from strength to strength. It wouldn’t be wrong to suggest that she is one of the trailblazers when it comes to art criticism in Pakistan. She has authored several books on art and prolifically contributed essays and analyses to the country’s leading newspapers and magazines. She is also the founding member of Pakistan’s first art gallery established by Bashir Mirza.

She will be missed.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2019

Peerzada Salman

Source: Dawn

28 March 2019

Colours as symbols – Dawn

KARACHI: Colours either look pleasing or jarring to the eye. This means that they serve a single purpose: to enrich or impoverish us aesthetically. That is not true. There’s more to it than meets the eye. Colours play multiple roles in our lives. Their contribution to our psychological growth and social progress cannot be understated. This is the idea that artist Komail Aijazuddin is working around in the latest exhibition of his artworks titled Secret History that kicked off at the Canvas Gallery on Tuesday.

Before touching upon the mixed media paintings on display, let’s take a look at Komail’s statement on the show in which he talks about attending a wedding which got him thinking “how shape and colour express meaning in culture” and that “the old shamiana came from a very specific visual lineage.” Two factors need to be taken into account here: culture and lineage. Are the two mutually exclusive? The answer is, no. Lineage has as much to do with the culture whose history, secret or not, is brought under the microscope.

The reference is, of course, to the milieu (of the subcontinent) that the artist associates himself with. This means loudness and garishness. But times change, so do aesthetics and, in some cases, moral values. Colours fall into the same scheme of things. Komail, however, treats them in a holistic fashion. His paintings have characters that get merged with the shapes, patterns, lines and hues that are ostensibly there to complement them. This is where the inherent symbolism of colours makes its presence felt forcefully. The piece ‘Readers’ is a potent example. It opens for the viewer a tiny window into Komail’s mind. The postures of a group of men, with one of them holding a book against a backdrop which suggests anything but a bookish atmosphere, basically signifies the change that has occurred in the collective visual approach of society to life that, in turn, impinges upon the way individuals see existence with all its manifestations on a daily basis. Therefore readers are not merely readers; they are the changing face of society.

The exhibition concludes on April 4.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2019

Peerzada Salman

Source: Dawn

Being human – Dawn

Marjorie leaving Pakistan after 60 years – Dawn

City’s art luminaries gather to bid adieu to seasoned critic

Colours as symbols – Dawn

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