Artists mix reality and fiction for an important message

Three artists display unique work at Taseer Art Gallery

LAHORE: A group exhibition by three young artists, who tried to explore several social and political aspects of daily routines in Pakistan and abroad, is on display at the Taseer Art Gallery.

The show titled A thousand Stories to Tell will continue till Wednesday (tomorrow).

The artists have worked on more or less similar themes. Artist Nageen Yousaf’s focuses on 14 currency notes and the fact that the leaders portrayed on the money are seldom even noticed. To most, all that matters is the value of the currency mote and nothing more.



Nageen said the drawings on currency notes are just as important as any portraits hung up in museums or art galleries. “Giving a somewhat baroque look to these portraits, I kept the colour texture and frame the same as the ordinary currency note,” she said while explaining her technique.

Nageen added that through her techniques, she wanted people to feel the portraits on currency notes and notice them as a classical piece of artwork, which they are, even on the note itself.



Javed Iqbal’s work in acrylic and oil on canvas simply takes inspiration from ideas and surroundings that catch his fascination. “According to one of my teachers, whatever thoughts cross our mind are testament that they were already part of our subconscious thinking process. That has been the mantra for my work,” he elaborated.

According to the artist, one of his paintings depicts a girl student from Hunza with books and was inspired by the fact the literacy rate is almost 98% in the area.

Similarly, for another painting, Javed made use of the sentences people write on walls in public toilets.

Meanwhile, artist Shanzay Subwari’s paintings in gouache and mix media on print are a juxtaposition of reality with fantasy characters to offer a political and social commentary. According to the artist, one of her pieces, titled You Don't Have Time to Be Timid, represents the rose as a symbol of beauty, transience and fragility.



“Painted on a Pakistani currency note from the 1950s, it shows the strength of a fully-bloomed rose, which symbolises the growth of the country during this time period. Like a rose, it also has moments of fragility.”

Another piece by Shanzay, called ‘I Can’t Go Back to Where I Used to be’, draws its inspiration from Disney’s Aladdin. “As the fictional palace of Agrabah peeks from the background on a Rs1,000 note, the artist  pokes fun of the time the republicans voted in favour of bombing the fantasy country, not knowing it was fictional,” said Shanzay.  “The title refers to the stereotyping of Muslim nations and putting them all in the same category,” she said.

‘A Silent prayer II’, another art piece by Shanzay, speaks of the aftermath of the Syrian civil war.

“On the Syrian note, the villainous Ursula (from the Little Mermaid) can be seen juggling and trapping the globe in her tentacles, while refugees are fleeing from the country in her hands. All the while, the Canadian flag ubiquitously flaps in the background as a probable sign of hope,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2017.