Using a variety of different mediums, five young artists from the National College of Arts explore varied themes in their exhibition at the Alhamra Art Gallery. The exhibition opening on the 6th of September and showcased the works made by these young minds during the Alhamra Residency, under the curation of Tanya Sani.
The first things apart from the attention craving works of Uzair Amjad’s are the titles he gives to them, “RALPH LAUREN, DIESEL, CK… I am.” , is a dry pastel work which places the viewer in a dark cupboard full of hangers, and clothes, the only thing which makes the work aesthetically smart is the placement of a figure hanging there with all the other accessories thus paralleling the title. ‘Divided we stand, together we fall I’ and ‘Divided we stand, together we fall II’ are two digital prints that not only do juxtapose the titles but also the subjectivity themselves. “I look like Jhonny Depp, I look like Christian Bale, Mein lagda waan afsar Shafique werga, Mein aan Chaudary Ashfaq werga” is his final digital art work that is as detailed as its title, depicting a series of treated portraits it narrates a symbolic flow chart that starts from Hollywood heart throbs and end’s with the blank faces of our common working class males.
Anum Lasharie weaves a nostalgic dimly lit portal into things which although under a certain order are bursting with disorder in their own self. Thus accordingly are her five digital photo prints named ‘Disorder in Order’.
Zahrah Ehsan’s series of three Paintings in Mix Media, are doorways leading from one dream to another. ‘A Dream within a Dream’ I, II and III are all representation of a dream void that represents familiar patterns and things in unfamiliar perspectives. Although full of open skies, effectively rendered patterns and hue clouds these dreamscapes are vibrant, appealing and eye friendly yet on some sub conscious level they act as disturbing brooding stimuli. Thus placing the initial question that the artist requires in spot light, “All that we see or seem, is it a dream or reality? ”.
Julius John on one hand proves himself to be skilled artisan with his version of ‘The Last Supper’. Although simple in subjectivity the symbolism his work is deep, whether it’s the old man, his steel cutlery with the meal, or the lantern which in turn becomes the only source of light for him, the painting throws at the viewer multitudes of questions. Ranging from fragility of human life, to meta-symbolic value that the lantern has achieved as an object in today’s time period, and finally to a quiet moment that points towards the hush before the coming of much greater events. At the first glance they seem like colossal Rorschach cards, but once your eyes get accustomed to them “Skeletons I , II, and III” present a struggling yet stubborn world.
From a distance they seem to be three ordinary realistically rendered portraits the sort which are found on the ending pages of old novellas or even decaying currency, but a close inspection reveals them to be hideous, creepy, yet subtle. Dressed in classic New world suiting’s are insects, their heads magnified staring right at you with complete air of casual grandeur. These creepy crawlies are Haider Ali’s representations of a world indulging in hierarchy on the basis of caste, creed, race, color and status. He makes us visible of our flaws when we presume others under us to be nothing more than mere frightful insects. Haider Ali provides his interesting perspective in a creepy, goose bumping sort of a way while the insect men themselves just casually stare at you with upright snobbery. These five young souls battle yesterday’s ghosts, today’s disorder’s and tomorrow’s uncertainties in their own unique ways. While providing the viewer peaks in to their own frames of minds and a glimpse in to their own fears, hopes, dreams, and aspirations.
