Neo-credible: Miniature paintings with a contemporary twist

Exhibition featuring work of 26 artists underway at Ejaz Art Gallery

LAHORE: In an attempt to bring forth fresh work from graduates of various art institutions from all over Pakistan, a group show featuring the work of 26 artists is underway at the Ejaz Art Gallery in Lahore. The show ‘Neo-credible’ encompasses complexity of contemporary artistic expressions, young artists’ personal journey or the socio-political scenario they live in.

Every year hundreds of fresh minds graduate and play the most vital role in forecasting future art prospects as emerging artists, the curator, Mariam Hanif, told The Express Tribune.



To ensure diversity, she said the artists were selected from all provinces of Pakistan.

One of the artists Anam Asif said her work reflected a state that came in everyone’s life, including hers. Through her art created in mixed media on Wasli, she has shown positivity turning into negativity, lights into darkness and some colours into black and white.



Aqsa Khan’s work features five art pieces of sparrows in medium porcelain. She says her work symbolises vigilance, joy, creativity and wisdom. “Sparrows are small in size yet the bird is understood to be extremely protective,” she said. Her work, Aqsa says, was an output of her first-ever international journey to Hungary, where she was driven to create art out of her comfort zone.

Another artist Abdul Waheed said he was interested in depicting cognitive interpretations by humans through his art pieces. “I have tried to portray metaphors and positioning of things in human mind because a picture is worth a thousand words,” he explained.

Artist Bushra Jawed’s work in mixed medium is based on visuals created through objects she interacts with in her daily life.

“Within the picture or objects used in my paintings, there are camouflaged elements, which reflect my thinking process over various political issues of the current world that have affected me in some way,” she said.

Another artist Bushra Khalid’s work is a pictorial representation of frequent situations and direction of thoughts and mental states. “Some of my artworks go with the notion of less is more while others depict the idea of how a lot of factors and elements combine to cause different situations, ideas and phases of our lives,” she said

Bushra has attempted to capture this idea by painting white and black objects tangled in hair. “My interest in human behaviour, action and reaction towards others inspired me to paint the unexplained situations of human mind,” she explained.



Nageen Yousaf’s paintings in mixed medium on canvas sarcastically depict the apparent rivalries between political figures such as Imran khan, Nawaz Sharif, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

She sees the continuous stress between both parties as a form of affection with the assumption of political party on the offensive actually being more compassionate.

More than 60 art pieces will remain on display at the gallery until January 5.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2017.