Art exhibition: Traditionalism with a touch of post-modernism

Artists paints Cholistani women with trees and historical sites.

LAHORE:

Thirty-six paintings of Cholistani women with a touch of post-modernism opened for display at the Ejaz Gallery on Monday. 

Titled Colours of Desert, the exhibition speaks of multiple influences on artist Asif Faruki.

In some pieces Faruki has incorporated Sheikh Saadi’s famous quote Kasbe Kamal Kun, ke Azize Jehan Shavi (Seek excellence in your work, so you can be admired by the world) in several calligraphic forms. He also added the Katas Raj temples and Rohtas Fort in some of the paintings.

One of the paintings drew the most admiration. It portrays a tree, about 400-years-old, which Faruki says he saw during a recent trip to Bahrain. A small shade of white, depicting a pigeon, can be seen in one corner of the painting.

“I wanted to bring some element of light and life into this and hence added a pigeon.

In a vast desert with a gazillion oil fields, one can feel God’s presence amid all the signs of lifelessness as an old tree has survived despite no oasis nearby,” Faruki said.

Most of the paintings show women figurines in collage, formed using old magazine cuttings, in calligraphy in ink and in traditional fabric patterns. Use of acrylic and pastel are also prominent.

Faruki said he used some influences from his thesis at the National College of Arts. In 1972, he said, he made pieces inspired by Laila, a fabric Lawrencepur floated in the market for the hippie crowd of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some laila patterns have been incorporated here too, he said.

In 1998, Faruki took 15 NCA students to Cholistan to “feel the women in the vastness and emptiness of desert”. The only colour in their life was in their traditional clothes and cultural dances.

“Many artists have attempted painting desert women in traditional form. I believe they deserve better artistic treatment. Putting them in modern wear is a concept not experimented with too often,” he said.

The pieces reflecting the grandeur of historical sites, particularly of Rohtas Fort, have all been made in ink. They are on canvas and are prone to moisture exposure and hence have been made using waterproof ink, he explains. Art critic Quddus Mirza said Faruki’s qualification as a graphic designer showed reflected in his work. “It is very decorative and embellished as always.” Veteran artist Saeed Akhtar was the chief guest at the launch.

He said Faruki’s work was combination of several techniques.

“A painting necessarily does not have to be a message, but should be put together in a way to appeal to as well as intrigue the onlookers,” he said, adding, “Faruki has certainly managed to incite interest.”

Faruki will take his works to Musawar Gallery to open in Dubai next month. The Musawar Gallery is also owned by the Ejaz Art Gallery owner, Muhammad Ramazan.

The current exhibition will run till November 5.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2012.