Exhibition: A unique blend of life and nature

Zaidi persists on man’s ultimate struggle for peace and satisfaction, despite all adversities in emotions.

A painting exhibition by two artists covering a milieu of traditional to contemporary versions of prevailing traditional-modernity concepts  will be held at Nomad Gallery from October 1-9, said a press release. The exhibition represents a unique blend of western and local traditions that present a bold alternative to global uniformity.

Zia Zaidi’s work reinterprets traditional forms, themes and aesthetics. A National College of Arts graduate in publicity design, and currently working as a freelance muralist/sculptor, he defines his work as an inner nonphysical experience about love and life, “My paintings are an illustration of mere desires, believing in inner soul has helped me a lot to create a relationship between my memories and the forgotten paradise,” he reflected.

A believer in inner truth and guidance, he persists on man’s ultimate struggle for peace and satisfaction, despite all adversities in emotions. Zaidi wood carvings are dedicated to the Gandhara Civilisation.

Pakistani-Swedish artist Ubaid Syed reflects his relationship with western culture and visual expression. Syed’s subject is nature and he works with acrylic on canvas to project a composition of mixed metaphors; random, disconnected feelings of both related and unrelated images that the artist has come across.

“Art is technology in images,” said Syed, “A whole that consists of harmoniously juxtaposed discrete parts.” He said that the artist needs to destroy his own nature to fully comprehend the grand design that is manifest in all creation and creature, and therefore he has to decompose himself to penetrate beyond the visible and transform his feelings into images. Syed claims nature to have an element of surprise, having had a great influence on his work.

It is nature, he continues, that with all its countless exhibitions of wisdom, completeness and perfection transforms him into a curious child, awakening a sense of oneness with the world. “To me, the essence of art lies primarily in the creation of artistic generalisation and not in representing reality in its concrete form,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2011.