Staying close to their forte, three seasoned artists explore abstraction

In his collection, Raza, staying true to his forte, predominantly paints fierce wild horses and full-bodied women.

ISLAMABAD:

The master of distortion, as Mashkoor Raza is popularly known, is back in Islamabad. His latest exhibition, along with artists AQ Arif and Maqbool Ahmed, opened at Gallery Louvre on Tuesday.

What makes Raza unique is his technique that combines the abstract with the real, meshing the two into an apparently bizarre distorted piece that still exhibits finesse and precision.

In his latest collection, Raza, staying true to his forte, predominantly paints fierce wild horses and full-bodied women. Both a symbol of strength and beauty for the artist, Raza splashes each canvas with rich colours of red, blue and orange, while using white to create structures and spaces in between that breakdown each figure while keeping the image whole.

Those who have been viewing Raza’s works for years can readily point out his signature style. This very particular technique of his is what pulls the crowd at his exhibitions.

While the horses and animals in his work carry expressions, his human figures remain expressionless, thus pulling more attention towards the entire piece rather than just the figures.

Maqbool’s women, unlike Raza’s, are draped in enticing saris with the front of the saris casually circling their arms – the women seem to merge with the background of deep hues of rust, red and orange.

Straying away from figures and animals are AQ Arif’s grey architectural sites of old urban dwellings, stacked up onto each other and exuding a sense of history.

The exhibition had a noticeably-low attendance at its launch. All three artists were missing in action, as were art lovers that are frequently found attending such affairs.

Perhaps viewers attuned to his signature style now crave something different. Impressive as the technique or craftsmanship is in the works on display, one did expect something more out-of-the-box from these seasoned artists.

The exhibition is open till October 19.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2012.