Politics on canvas: Issue-based art takes centre stage

Ali captures frustrations of common man; Jawad covers women.

ISLAMABAD: Strong, in-your-face artwork that makes various statements opened for display at the Nomad Gallery on Saturday. Packed with a geo-political punch, the artwork by Sumera Jawad and Faraz Ali strays away from the general satirical depictions that many artists turn towards when illustrating political issues.

In his work , Ali takes a more direct approach; throwing in a hint of symbolism to play with the viewers emotions. His six pieces are based on ink and watercolours, yet the use of materials is minimal and simple--less is more it seems.

The pieces feature a young, bare-chested man holding a gun in his hand, screaming in frustration. Some of the work shows the young man’s head completely enveloped by a Pakistani flag, an expression of his thorough feelings of suffocation and agitation.

“There seems to be a multi-stranded search for the means to express what it is like to be alive in a changing era,” said Ali, who has a BFA from Indus Valley and recently exhibited his work in Jordan.

Focusing on the post-9/11 situation, one notices the seal of the President of the United States on top of the gun in the man’s hand, yet at the same time, a small Government of Pakistan emblem sits on his chest above the heart, clearly visible and sending out a strong statement.

With a clean, white base acting as the background, the simple, large canvas portrays the very real emotions of someone frustrated with the system.

While a man’s struggle due to the political situation is Ali’s domain, Jawad has devoted her efforts to capture the women of the country. Her work is impressionist with a contemporary feel.

Red is a dominant colour in most of the former Punjab University gold-medallist’s work, as she strives to paint women as docile and subservient in a patriarchal society.

With victimised women boldly painted onto the canvases, one large painting drifts away from the rest and settles into a more peaceful tone.

“The Young Goddess” is a large oil painting of her daughter meditating calmly, her eyes closed and back completely straight at ease and serene while she meditates on top of a plant.

“The figures she paints more or less represent someone, but at the same time they cross over and are changed to symbolise all of us,” said Nageen Hayat, the curator of the gallery.

The two artists’ works will be on display till the April 17.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2012.