Go ‘Somewhere Else’: 5 NCA grads display work at Drawing Room

Exhibition to continue till Nov 13.

LAHORE:

Five young artists are showcasing their work in an exhibition titled Somewhere Else, at the Drawing Room art gallery.

Sehr Jalil, Saba Khan, Suleman Khilji, Sahyr Sayed and Mohsin Shafi are all recent graduates from the National College of Arts.

The gallery’s website describes the exhibition as one by “contemporary artists who juxtapose urban youth culture with Pakistani identity in [an] innovative and unexpected way”.

Khilji’s work consist of digital images on aluminium sheets. He says there is no theme to his work, “Every image has its own unique concept,” he says. For Khilji, the form of silhouettes in his pieces is what explains his journey and the way he thinks.

Sahyr Sayed’s creations depict the imperfections that exist even in the most perfect of places and environments. One of her works shows a close to perfect doll house but also has an image of a bed bug. The miniature major says that she is no different than everyone else who “wants to own a beautiful house and have a perfect life”. She says she deliberately put in the bed bugs to show that even in the most perfect of circumstances there are elements that do not allow one to feel complete happiness.

Another one of her pieces is an installation of swings, which she says shows the conflicting relationships that exist within a family. “When they collide, confrontation and discord spread,” she says.

Mohsin Shafi’s collages speak of his desires and comment on politics, hunger, sexuality and money. He uses photographs to depict his feelings and desires. Says Shafi, “My piece Orbiting the Plane Blue is about a childhood dream. Vermillion is a portrait of my friend who is in a state of nirvana and is blocking the rest of the world out.”

The exhibition opened on November 5 and will continue till November 13.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2012.