Group show featuring work of printmakers on display

A group show titled 'Etched and Inked' featuring the work of national and international printmakers was put on display on Tuesday.

It is an exhibition of a group of innovative and established printmakers from the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Pakistan. The show is solely focused on the art of printmaking and carries the work of Aqeel Solangi, Atif Khan, Fatima Saeed, Irum Wani, Kate Bassett, Laila Rahman, Sameera Khan and Sarah Hopkins at Khaas Art Gallery.

The exhibition builds a positive context whereby artists are involved in the dissemination of their artwork and share their ideas with the public through the mediators of a gallery, stimulating greater sentience and knowledge of Original Prints to a larger audience. It deepens a mutual understanding and motivates a way of thinking, of and beyond political, pecuniary and social borders. The participants have their own distinct style on the medium. It is a collection of prints from artists with a very diverse approach.

'Etched and Inked' is also an allegory of the collaborative nature of printmaking that made it survive through the past to the present, bringing forward both the traditional and contemporary, techniques and processes, said the organisers. Printmaking is multi-faceted and what makes it further unique is that by staying within the realm of art; one can produce an abundance of editions. Thus, giving an artist an opportunity to produce and share more than one set of the same images. This makes the art accessible to everyone. It gives an ease of ownership to a genuine art piece.

"Place - Replace, Location - Relocation are the main conceptual concerns in my work. Both etchings for this exhibition are etched on zinc and copper plates. In Swing, empty, half-opened swing is a sort of invitation to sit, swing and celebrate life. Whereas the other etching, titled ‘Roots of the Soul’ has sort of soul-searching approach," said Aqeel Solangi.

Atif Khan said: "By and large, my work is a homage to local popular visual culture, paying tribute to its amalgamation of Central Asian/Persian aesthetics and a local South Asian blend of expressive storytelling.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2023.