The Nomad Gallery here on Wednesday held a press preview for the 16 exquisite contemporary artworks of Masood A Khan which are being showcased in an exhibition starting today. This would be the artists’ 5th solo show in the federal capital.
Masood A Khan is a self-taught artist, whose paintings are outstanding for many reasons, more specifically due to uniqueness in their comprehension and style of execution. Whatever he has painted–a village scene, urban areas or still life, he has been successful in accurately visualising and capturing the lights and shades through all materialistic barriers, as if he has x-ray eyes. With transparent washes of watercolours and minimal lines of ink and charcoal, he has created brilliant multi-dimensional, serene and spiritual soul-scapes.
Whether the children are flying kites, women making dung cakes, men cutting wood, woman dressing a child, or a man sitting in his room, child lying on floor and reading a book–all situations carry a strong feeling of tranquility, a magical calm, a peaceful environment, but even with all this relaxing harmony there is no stillness. The feeling exists as if something is happening in a soothing and composed way in that particular scene.
The art lovers who are familiar with the past works of Khan will certainly notice a dramatic transformation in most of his paintings displayed in the current show. The medium is now acrylic instead of watercolours. The colours are bright and vibrant. There is a distinct change in application of lines as they are more descriptive and detailed. Some of the paintings make explicit socio-political statements. However, as before, they still capture the atmosphere and soul of a particular moment, but now with more details. Talking to this scribe, Khan said his recent work is a continuation of his past appearances at various art galleries in Pakistan and abroad. “At each appearance I adopted a new vocabulary to paint the essence of truth with lines and layers,” he said. “As transparency is the quintessence of naked reality, it remains constant on my surfaces,” Khan said, adding, “with a blend of feelings I express reality around through realism combined with modernism.” He said in the remote recesses of his subconscious lied an effort to create a spiritual climate that touches the heart. “I feel a new liberty when the beauty of every form is clear, visible and overlapping each other creating a multidimensional view,” he added. “I don’t need to distort the naturalistic forms as done in cubism or other isms of art. In my works, I have peeled off, layer by layer, the fables that determine our lives-a world emphasising the simplicity and joy of spiritual content versus the present contemporary situation with all its perils,” he added. Khan seems to have meticulous observation of both rural and urban life, an understanding of his themes, mastery on his technique to achieve spectacular results. The 16 paintings in the exhibition are aesthetically beautiful, with deep effects of lights and shades created dominantly by blue, yellow, green, orange, violet and brown. Nageen Hyat, the Nomad Gallery director, said that Khan has made Pakistan proud when he secured the first prize at the Chianciano 2011, an International Art Festival in Italy that promotes cultural exchanges and dialogue. “The artist has held a number of solo exhibitions at Nomad Gallery and participated widely in local and international art exhibitions and received great acclaim,” she concluded. The exhibition will continue at the Nomad Gallery till 10 January.
Louvre unveils Rahi’s
paintings today: The Gallery Louvre is all set to exhibit a solo art work by noted artist Mansoor Rahi here today (Thursday). The art gallery will be showcasing all three sketching schools of thought by the artist- Synergy (a mix of harsh and soft sketching medium), Iconography (a sketch developed by singular line without ant support or color), and Volume (shades without lines). Also a fringe benefit to the art lovers is that the exhibition will also host the actionistic work by Mansoor Rahi that depicts a potential energy in a drawing and a painting dexterously made by the legend artist.
Talking to Pakistan Today here on Wednesday, Rahi said ‘Synergy’ is something that he developed when he was thinking about music and how some instruments might complement each other in a melody. For Mansoor Rahi, “Synergy” is a melody, he has used in the harsh medium of marker, making the outline of the shape that is the artist’s equivalent for a “tabla” beat, then he complements these shapes with some soft graphite, which is a kind of visual substitute of a “sittar”. Mansoor Rahi is the second artist who has dared to experiment with the medium of Marker since Sadequain as the medium’s harshness needs a very seasoned hand.
The Iconography, on the other hand, is as different from the usual sketch as chalk is from cheese. Iconography is a result of imaginative shape in the artists mind, he gives freedom to his hand yet he remains in his school of thought.
Last, but not the least, is the Volume drawings, the soft medium of graphite filling-in and making forms without any support of line. The volume series completely neutralizes the hard formation of the “Intuitionism Series”
Mansoor Rahi’s work does not only create a mood of innovation but also the new forms and illusion of values but also open a vision of free expression.
Softness of love ,rhythmic flexibility of human figure intergrated with stiff world of rock forms leads mind to venture into new world of classical synthesis of composition. In his work the human figure form,tension of psychedelic value creates a world of “Neo-Cubo-Precisionism”. In fifty-two years of his work, he has evolved through five phases to his present day work.
Alina Saeed, the curator of Gallery Louvre, said, “This exhibition is a great learning opportunity not only to artists, art students but also to art admirers, It is rare that an artist shares a blue print of his work, but in this exhibition the drawing work of all three kinds are as explanatory as they could get for anyone to understand.” Mansoor Rahi is one master of art who shares his learning with an open heart; his art school has produced many accomplished artists not only in Pakistan but at international level. He has also shared his bank of knowledge by hosting a morning show art teaching segment for more than six years. He has read papers in international seminars in Tokyo, West Germany and in France.
His contributions have definitely increased the standards of the teaching and appreciation of the art in the country. The exhibitions also hold a treat of his neo-precisonism and actionistic paintings.
Using colours of blue and red simultaneously which are generally considered to be a ‘near crime’ in art world the artist has captured the energy of movement in his actionistic paintings.
