Art exhibit: Think like a child, paint like a pro

Tassaduq Sohail, 83, paints with the eye of a child and the brush of a professional artist.

ISLAMABAD: Octogenarian Tassaduq Sohail paints with the tenacity of a seasoned artist, while still clinging on to the enthusiasm of a child. His latest collection “Encrypted Satires” opened at Gallery 6 on Saturday.

Reflective of the title, the collection boasts of mystique coupled with playful elements. The use of colours — browns, greens, blues and yellows — form forbidden forests with mythical creatures and figurines shrouded in trees. Parrots, peacocks and mermaids underwater beside silhouettes all catch the viewer’s eye.

“I wake up to paint at 3am every day. This is the witching hour when witches and all sorts of creatures are flying about, looking for people to whom they can grant favour. It is the best time of the day for me,” he said.



Instead of highlighting the contours of the figurines, Sohail resorts to painting women garish and plain. His work takes influence from feminism and the complexities therein. He brushes away any inhibitions that may make a viewer uncomfortable.

His fascination with the square shape continues as he transfixes characters into square pieces one after another, creating a monopoly of faces with different expressions, sometimes even ghastly and grotesque.

Nearly all of his work on display brings characters from children’s storybooks to mind.

What started out as a way to win friends in school has lasted Sohail decades of an artistic journey, which he is not ready to end anytime soon.



“I will continue picking up my paint brush, I need not die right now, other artists die because their subject matter dries up.”

A graduate of St Martin’s School of Art, Sohail held his first solo exhibition in London in 1978.

The current exhibition will continue till February 14.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2013.