Excellent strokes of brush with riots of colours and fusion of abstract art of human imagery, the Nomad Gallery opened on Saturday its doors by putting a contemporary art work artists’ duo- Zia Zaidi and Ubaid Syed.
The ten days long exhibition, showcasing a collection of 24 art pieces in mixed media by Zaidi and water colour by Syed, covers the milieu of traditional to contemporary versions of prevailing East-West, local-universal, and traditional-modern themes.
According to Nomad Director Nageen Hyat, both the artists have a rich experience in the field of art and they have amalgamated their works trying to merge the East and the West.
Hyat explained that while Zia Zaidi’s work reinterprets the traditional forms, themes and aesthetics, Pakistani-Swedish artist Ubaid Syed’s visual expression reflects his approach towards Western culture and it makes a unique blend.
She said that by putting together the paintings of Zaidi and Syed, one can see how artists have incorporated local and universal values through creative expressions.
“In our country of diverse cultures and aesthetic sensibilities, the exchange between the western and local tradition has given birth to a unique identity that presents a bold alternative to global uniformity-a truly unique synthesis,” she observed.
Talking about his work, Zia told Pakistan Today that most of his work reflected his “inner non-physical experience about love and life”.
“With a firm belief in the inner truth and guidance, I see myself as a traveler in this amazing world. There are ups and down, happiness and despair, love and hatred but still I can see that every human effort is basically inclined towards peace and inner satisfaction,” he added.
Zaidi, who graduated in Publicity Designing from Lahore’s National College of Arts in 1988, has dedicated the carvings on wood to the Gandhara Civilisation.
“My paintings are not more than my desires! My belief in the inner soul has helped me to create a relationship between my memories and the forgotten paradise”, added Zaidi, who has worked as a cartoonist and illustrator for a leading newspaper from 1993 to 1999.
This is Zaidi’s eighth exhibition at Nomad; his work has also been showcased in solo exhibitions organised by the Alliance Francaise in Lahore and Islamabad, while he has also participated in numerous group shows as well.
Zaidi has been doing a lot of social work also for the poor and needy children in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail; notable among them is the establishment of a library in collaboration with Japan’s International Centre for Literacy and Culture, of which he has been the vice chairman from 1999 to 2002.
Ubaid Syed’s subject, on the other hand, is nature. For him, there is always an element of surprise in nature, in the variety of forms, light and depth of colours.
“It is nature which, with its countless amazing exhibitions of embodiment of wisdom, completeness and perfection, transforms me into a curious child and awakens the sense of oneness with the world”, Syed said this while talking to this scribe.
Syed’s works are based upon “acrylic on canvas”, where form is the identity of content. “Art is an ideology in image. It is like a rainbow – a whole— consisting of harmoniously juxtapose discrete parts. An artist needs to undermine his own nature to fully comprehend the grand design that is manifested in all the creation and creatures, he needs to decompose himself to penetrate beyond the visible and then transform his feelings into images,” Syed said.
He said he intended to stick with the impression rather than a fully elaborated composition, spontaneity rather than smooth finish. “My art is basically a composition of mixed metaphors, disconnected, random feelings of both related and unrelated images that come across me,” the artist maintained.
The exhibition will continue at the Nomad Gallery, House No. 22, Justice Abdul Rashid Avenue, F-6/1, until October 9.
