20 young artists journey beyond their Studio in Lahore to show in Karachi

Studio RM is a place for new and experienced artists to mingle.

KARACHI: The ‘Silsila’ or journey of 20 artists of Studio RM has travelled from Lahore to Karachi’s Koel Gallery for an exhibition that opens today and will run till March 7.

Founder RM Naeem describes Studio RM as a non-profit run institution “providing art counselling, guidance and a residency to upcoming artists”. Naeem, an artist originally from Mirpukhas, established the Studio in 1994 in an attempt to allow art students to interact with artists and see them at work — something he had yearned for during his days at the National College of Art.

The artists have an array of perspectives to offer in several mediums. The most expensive work, priced at Rs700,000, is Muhammad Zeeshan’s ‘Dying Miniature’ of graphite on sandpaper. The ‘cheapest’ piece at Rs50,000 was Amra Khan’s ‘Right here in my arms’ in which she substituted paint with ink, tea and coffee. Khan used the deceptive liquids to look like watercolour in order to depict a “conflict between the mind and the soul”. She stains the paper with sienna and ochre as they are colours that attempt to portray inner confusion in the darkest corner of a person’s mind.

Similarly ingenious was Faisal Ashghar’s use of a ballpoint pen to cross-hatch a black cat with its back arched in ‘Fear’. He worked without contours in short, soft strokes, giving his work a surreal and hazy look. For him, this work was about dealing with “the permutations which are bound to happen in nature and the principles of the universe which are responsible for these permutations”.

Perhaps the most explosive imagery was provided by Aakif Suri whose ‘Main or Aakif’ (Gouache on wasli) semi-biographically depicts a man struggling with a disintegrating force. The recurring theme in his work is of people breaking free of constraints as he tries to tell them to “play your role to create a new positive aura around you”.

Other artists taking part in the exhibition are Asif Sharif, Naseer Bhugari, Sadaf Naeem, Ali Kazim, Muhammad Zeeshan, Mudassar Manzoor, Sana Arjumand, Nazia Gull, Saba Khan. Hira Mansur, Kakul Kamran, Irfan Gul, Naveed Sadiq, Mutaib Shah and RM Naeem himself.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2011.