PAINTING EXHIBITION – An art triangle

Lahore – A triangle is the only figure in which all end points have hinges and will never change its shape unless the sides themselves are bent. Somewhat similar is the case with these three maestros of the art world. Under the spot light are none other than A S Rind, Mashkoor Raza and Salman Farooqi whose group show title TRI opened at Reviver’s Galleria last week.
Like the brain of a living organism with sub-conscious, unconscious and conscious levels, these works are also inter-connected and trajectory in terms of thought process.
RIND’S WOMEN: A S Rind is a magician with colours and elements that are folk in nature. Brightly coloured women, not perfect in the sense of realism but complete in their own metaphorical representation, are sometimes veiled and at times bare. Their hair styles vary from one to the other and so does the jewellery; heavy, light, ornamented and simple. These women vary from one another, although their resemblances retain strong marks of belonging to a single unit as well; it seems they belong to a common troupe and have lived and been together for so long that a strange similarity has started to brew in all of them. Most of his works remain title-less, a fact that comprehends the sheer subjective grandeur Rind is able to achieve and withhold. Along these colourfully clad women, who seem in the state of deep thought, are other elements; some local while others might seem alien.
Schools of fishes and calligraphic forms of poetry are somewhat a constant companion of these works. Floral forms and patterns in the foreground or background also give the works a sense of radiance and depth, whereas the pattern on the traditional clothes, adorned by these diminutive women of Rind’s mind, are sometimes identical, at other times plain or wholly different. The usage of acrylics is decent enough, whereas the imagery is striking yet overwhelming with the proficient colour usage.
RAZA’S HORSES: Mashkoor Raza is what one would call the gentlemen painter, as his subjects seem reminiscent of a golden age that has been whooshed by us, a world that moved on. His work is about horses, polo players, semi-nude women and circular disk forms that repeatedly pop-out in these works. The works are flat, fresh and retain a somewhat cubist form to them. Although the subject matter remains personalized to the extent of the viewer getting lost in the maze of thoughts, these works are quite vibrant and pleasing to the eye. Polo scenes are ablaze with life, stupor and guile.
SALMAN’S CONTOURS: Last but the most important person to complete and put an end to this trinity is Salman Farooqi. Colours seem more vivid on canvas, than they might seem in imagination, and contours literally make the paintings scream with life with a serene imagery that is both recognizable yet forgotten. His works are a mesmerizing prism of an echo; long gone yet deep and somewhat effective. The brush strokes seem energetic, just enough to match the mood of the painting, and so does the imagery but it is the contours and the colours, that take the lead with this painter in particular.
The orange disk repeats itself like Salman’s personal sun, reoccurring canvas after canvas. The women are sterile, indulged yet leaving a gaping vacuum. On the other hand, when one comes back to the horses individually or with polo players mounted on them, they seem like huge unending waves of brilliant reds, jaundice yellow, teal, mauves and magentas.
Being a curator leaves one a little sour witted; works being displayed on easels and in a niche could have been avoided.
These works might trade a thought provoking grandeur for personalized brilliance, yet they were good enough to leave one a little dazzled, and the key to it being that artists’ works seemed to first complete within itself, and then also help comprehending the others, in one way completing the triangle while retaining equilibrium.
Colours seem more vivid on canvas, than they might seem in imagination, and contours literally make the paintings scream with life with a serene imagery that is both recognizable yet forgotten. His works are a mesmerizing prism of an echo; long gone yet deep and somewhat effective