AS Rind’s paintings have been on display in the Revivers Art Gallery and have received commendable applause by art lovers. The artist has displayed a collection of his paintings that depict women with work done in bright acrylics on canvas. The show is to continue till November 14, 2011 for the maximum number of people to come in and see Rind’s magnificent works on display. Rind was born in Rahim Yar Khan in 1960, a city famous for its rich cultural heritage. Bold in his experiment with colours, Rind has always created the effects of embossing and carving in his individual style. Most works heavily reflect the features and moods of women in his hometown.
This exhibition too carries display works depicting women. He shows beautiful curvaceous women wearing bright colours in their typically rural clothes of a ghaghra and choli, carrying parrots, and or fishes, with verses written behind them in a wonderfully intricate calligraphic style. He uses acrylic on canvas and for another effect in his figurative work makes use of ink. Rind’s cache of paintings carries a strong cultural influence of his area, as his paintings are deeply influenced by the regional aesthetics, splendour, colours and motifs. The presence of the animals exudes an aura of romance and mystery, as well as some secret symbolism that the artist carries inside him. Most of the verses that are used in the paintings are those of Faiz while one or two belong to Ghalib, in order to emphasise the mood and temperament of each painting. Rind’s style is painting abstract figures of women in an impressionist style with thick outlines. The women are adorned with colourful ethnic jewlerry in distinctive styles.
Rind has been painting since 1986. He qualified in Fine Arts from the Central Institute of Arts and Crafts in Karachi where he is based today in 1988 and has worked in ‘super realism’ as he has earlier said, till 1993. His paintings today all remind one of him dabbling in styles of impressionism, cubism, and abstract art as each of these elements are depicted in his paintings. He has also worked on Quranic calligraphic paintings and has drawn world famous mosques besides introducing a new typeface.
Rind, besides participating in numerous group exhibitions, has so far held three solo exhibitions. The sounds and smells and colours of Rind’s hometown have always haunted him it seems, though in no sense do these memories seem to be unpleasant. Rind’s style of drawing jewellery and forms are reminiscent of a son of the soil returning home, to announce his heritage and even though there has been an effort to stylise the figures and enhance the design element, the colours claim a distant relationship with the desert. Sara Anjum, curator of the Reviver’s Art Gallery, told Pakistan Today that the exhibition is expected to go really well till its last show. “We have had about 27 paintings booked out of the 52 that are on display,” she said, pointing out that there are many more prospective buyers for Rind’s wonderful art.
