Saeed says the setting sun symbolises the stage he has reached in his life. PHOTO: EXPRESS
The exhibition titled ‘Saeed Clan Exhibition’ brought together more than 50 pieces of artwork by Saeed, his four children and six grandchildren. The artist obtained his diploma in fine arts from the National College of Arts in 1964 and is a recipient of Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 2012 and the Pride of Performance award in 1994.
Speaking about his most recent work, featuring a setting sun which he describes as a self portrait, Saeed said it symbolised the stage he has reached in his life.
Saeed’s youngest daughter Fatimah says the show is basically a celebration for the family because all of the members have been working in creative fields.
“The idea was to put all our work together under one roof and celebrate the fact that all of us have been contributing as artists in our capacity in respective styles,” she said.
“Our concerns and styles are distinctly different from each other.”
Fatimah created most of the work exhibited currently during her stay in Australia, inspired by the longing for home and or the importance of being at home, which can be seen as a dominant theme in this particular series. “I was also questioning the idea of paradise and the dilemma of where you live,” she elaborates.
Nine pieces by Fatimah, who teaches printmaking at Lahore College for Women University, were created using Islamic geometry styles in mixed medium.
Saeed’s eldest son Umer says the exhibition is important because it covers works by three generations symbolising how we are attempting to take forward our father’s art. “We are trying to give a message that family is everything and art can unify people,” he says.
Saeed’s eldest daughter Faiqa Waqar, who heads the Imperial University’s Fine Arts Department, said her father had always been her inspiration.
Her interest as an artist has remained with female human figure, although she does not depict it as boldly as her father does.
“Woman figures in my paintings remain hidden, facing away from the audience,” she explains. She also prefers using lesser tones, mostly black and whites, since she feels a contrast of these two colours alone is so strong that there is no need to use any other colour.
Speaking about one of her paintings featuring a woman looking through the window at trees far away with a tinge of green in them, Faiqa said she tried to symbolise hope with a tint of green colour for trees.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2016.
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