Wajood-e-Zan se hai tasweer-e-kainaat mein rang.” (Of the universe’s painting, woman’s existence is the colour) This verse quoted from Allama Iqbal, materialized itself in the form of paintings yesterday at the Ejaz Art Gallery. Babar Azeemi’s flair for art was clearly visible, and was awe-inspiring to say the least.
What was even more shocking was that this young man in his twenties, an artist hailing from Sindh’s district of Tando Muhammad Khan, was self-taught. No art school, no art teacher – the boy always managed to do it on his own, and has won several awards from his school life until present, including having several solo shows.
‘Wajood-e-Zan’ is one of his series that follows a theme of women, as the name obviously suggests. His artwork is outstanding, magnificent and delicate. The intricate work and detail in his figures, and the razor-thin lines, which outline the dominating figure, and the elements in the background show Azeemi’s eye for detail. He is patient, careful and even rhythmic. His hands are well set; the parabolas and arches are drawn in one clean sweep on his hand, in one smooth curve.
Shapes too seem to be playing a big role in his work. While the background consists of geometric designs (even these are not too clear because the background is fading away at the edges), the women in the forefront are depicted in curves. Her body, her face, her eyes, her hands, her posture – everything is curvaceous. A softness of character may be seen from this depiction.
Azeemi’s exhibition portrays women present in the forefront of the painting while in the background is a jharoka or a Mughal style terrace or doorway. It is however unclear as to what exactly it is because Azeemi has left it faded, purposely, letting the viewer guess where this woman is. Each of the women is beautiful, with a fragile face, a delicate chin, rosebud lips and huge doe-eyes. The choice of using mixed media on paper has combined the colours well, though Azeemi himself has opted not to use too many colours. His hues are based in sepia, browns, greys and other dull colours.
“Sometimes, I create my own colours,” says Azeemi. Colours are important in these paintings of his that on the surface seem to lack colour. The backgrounds it seems are kept purposely dreary so that the women stand out. The only colour is in one of the clothes the women are wearing – either the dupatta draped around her head, or the henna tipped fingers, or the bright clothes she is wearing.
The most vibrant painting in the collection is where the young woman is looking at a parrot (probably from her balcony). The parrot is a vibrant, eye catching green, while the dupatta the woman wears is exactly the same colour. Her silver earrings are dazzling, and she is adorned by other jewellery too.
Azeemi says that he has tried to paint keeping in his mind’s eye the sensitive side of women. He is not stereotyping, he says, but he personally feels that every woman, even if she is hard as a rock, in character or habits, has an extremely sensitive and soft side which no man can compare with. This is his reading.
“It’s a depiction of saying that the world’s sensitivity lies in a woman,” he says. “Or you can say it the other way round: all the world’s sensitivity is found in a woman. In these paintings I am depicting mainly the Eastern woman. In some paintings, she is playing with a bird, or holding a sitar playing music, or holding a tasbih. These are all symbols for things done in the real world. Even the world is all symbolic, not real.”
Azeemi says that the world may resemble Mughal or old Hindu buildings in architecture, but that is not exactly what he has tried to show. That is only his inspiration. It is a world of his imagination though and the women are also part of this. As is obvious, AR Chughtai seems to be a major inspiration for Azeemi. However, he says he has several others too. “I have never been taught formal art by anyone,” he says.
“But I have been watching art done by many others. AR Chughtai’s depiction of women interests me the most, but I am also inspired heavily by Najmi Sura, Hajrah Masroor and some other artists of today and yesterday.” His composition has been heavily manipulated with some overlapping and scratching of the surface, using thick and thin layers of acrylic, oil, inks and numerous techniques to make it contemporary while being in the style of a miniature. His is a romantic style, with an edge over the imagination, especially with regard to time and space.
