Out with the old No country for old men — Anymore

FRESH! Walks a fine line between raw and rare, producing a show that is ripe with young promise.

KARACHI:

There is much to be said about all things vintage - the value of experience with time, old school art that is aged to perfection.  No one wants to listen anymore though.  FRESH! cuts through the wrinkled fabric of an art scene that is running out of anti-ageing cream, and manages to put together a taut body of work that is seductively young.

It also marks a first in the importance of a strong curatorial process previously unheard of. Amin Gulgee, Raania Azam Khan Durrani and Saba Iqbal prove that age is just a number, but only if you make it count. Curating a show that invited artists from across the country with the only condition being that they must be under the age of 30 is a naïve idea that could have fallen flat on its face, especially if one had little or no sponsorships and was not concerned about the commercial viability of the work, like most who are  jaded and botoxed to the point that their creative expression is as frozen as their forehead.



Refreshingly, the FRESH! team are none of the above. Art for art sakes used to be scoffed upon as a cliché. All clichés contain a certain amount of naïve idealism, which combined with a startlingly seasoned curatorial process, is the core of FRESH! Then it starts to ripen up. Nearly 68 artists from across the country, all under 30, express an uninhibited creative language. From performance pieces to graphite on Wasli, the show lives up to ‘Collective Individualism’ – an oxymoron that could have easily been dismissed as a chaotic mess. Artists from varied backgrounds, as far removed in contextual spectrums as the mediums used, is a tall order to contain under one roof. Gulgee however, does away with the physical confines of his gallery space, syncing various decibels of artistic expression in an almost rhythmic manner.



Each piece, hence, holds its own strength and weakness. Every artist is allowed a language of his or her own creation. Fatima Sabeekah’s Iron maggots, Baakh Pirzada’s baby pacifiers and Umber Majid’s ‘Self Portrait’ as a gold bar in engraved brass, all make for loud, and almost revoltingly strong, gender narratives.   Summayya Jillani walks in with her signature flourish that defies and unravels binaries of icons previously boxed in ‘east’ and ‘west’. Humarri Frida, acrylic and screen on canvas, makes the use of a compass redundant. If she questions space, ‘Round the Clock’ makes you rethink the idea of time as a human construct. Quratulain Qamar Chaudhry’s piece is a visual treat, both in its craft and the idea of undoing metal contraptions, so that you are forced to stop and watch gears and needles that dictate the idea of tomorrows.



Narjis Mirza and Nasir Ansari make two of the strongest socio-political statements, in equally distinct mediums. Mirza’s video installation erases preconceived borders drawn to separate as the ‘X-Line’ crosses into unchartered territory. Ansari’s delicate plexi glass and metal rod ‘Chingchi’ is deceptively beautiful. As one peeks in the luminous box, the dark comment strikes you back.



Amina El-Edroos’ ‘Domino Effect’ uses editing as a creative tool in her video installation, that becomes Escheresque as she repeats the mundane on a loop and leaves one with an existential crisis.



The strength of the show lies behind the scenes. To combine whimsical deeply personal pieces with jarring statements on violence and politics is a daunting task. You see a spectrum of expression that exudes energy. The differences creased out, and finally stamped on a catalogue designed by Peaceniche. FRESH! is a silent collective of people who are creating a forum for artists to flourish in their own time and space. It holds the kind of promise and wisdom that comes with new beginnings, letting go of old ideas, and has a childlike wonder that makes you look again, your creative vision cleared of cataracts.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2014.

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