Distinct flair: Paintings that speak directly to the viewer

Mashkoor Raza’s diverse art on display at Tanzara Gallery.

ISLAMABAD:

Renowned artist Mashkoor Raza displayed his most recent work at the Tanzara Gallery on Thursday.

With his experience as a painter spanning three decades, Raza figures prominently in the world of Pakistani art not only because he is one of the most prolific national artists but also because he has the rare distinction of having developed his signature style.

“Mashkoor’s work has its own style which sets him apart from his contemporaries. He employs a highly developed sense of design, form and colour. His bold strokes, play of colour and handling of space and composition are a breath of fresh air,” said Noshi Qadir, the gallery’s curator. This being the third show of the artist at the gallery, Qadir added, each series has outdone the previous.

“I have seen his work evolve. While there are some paintings which are very typical, in others we see that his stokes have become stronger and colours bolder,” she said further.



According to the artist, visual art has a language of its own, which cannot be expressed in words. “The paintings communicate themselves and need no interpreter to explain them. They have to be felt and experienced on their own,” he said, adding that each piece has something new to offer as an artist should not repeat the same theme over and over again.

Known for his figurative abstract art and calligraphy, Raza creates transparency with basic forms of geometrical shapes on his canvases. The paintings depict a myriad of subjects in cubism, including images of horses, polo players and females, revealing the dexterity of handling the paints and composition. His transparent impressions vary in style and mood as he merges a lively palette onto the canvas. While solid colours like red, blue and black dominate the series, the artist balances out the paintings by abstractions of lighter tones such as crème and earthen tones.

The artist has blended various phases from a cubist approach to figurative expression.  He is also identified by horses and nudes, by contemporary calligraphic paintings and lately by a bold sun image. The display also has some fresh pieces, which are wholly abstract in nature.

Trained by the cubism exponent Mansur Rahi, Raza has carved a niche in the medium. In oil-on-canvas and acrylic, the techniques range from slapdash brush and roller work to impasto with palette knife and crusty-sediment layering of oil colours.

“Mashkoor has carved his own niche by virtue of working in the field consistently. He has worked hard and proven himself to qualify next in league of artists like Sadequain or Mansur Rahi,” said veteran artist and Rahi’s wife, Hajra Mansur.

The horses are drawn in neat, linear strokes of black marker of ink. For this particular exhibition, he has experimented with broad-banded ribbon-like effects to draw horses which could have been achieved with flat-tipped red pens.

Argentinean Ambassador Rodolfo J Martin Saravia commended the curators for promoting the work of Pakistani artists both locally and internationally. “They (the curators) are doing a fantastic job of running the art business as the trend of appreciating and buying art is on the rise. I have been buying paintings of Pakistani artists myself and I am happy to boast them in my collection,” he said. The exhibition will continue till November 9 from 11am to 7pm, except Sundays.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2013.