Pen-and-ink drawings on display at Polo Lounge. PHOTO: EXPRESS
As any seasoned artist would tell you, the fast-fading art form of pen-and-ink drawings is hard to come by in the portfolios of most contemporary artists. Perhaps this is due to the time, effort and attention to detail the practice requires.
Deviating from this norm, the young artist Hassan Shah Gilani showcased a total of 26 pieces at a local hotel on Friday. Titled “Minutia”, the collection examines the subtle, intricate details that remain imperceptible to the untrained eye. Perceiving these finer prints and rendering them on paper to build towards this collection took him seven years.
The immaculately-detailed pieces take on arbitrary shapes, sculpted curves and sharp edges. The technique is minimalist and symmetrical, with fine lines intersecting at the focal points of plain white sketchbook paper sheets.
In some of the pieces, the labyrinth of pattern ultimately draws one to notice the neat lines, the tiny dots and psychedelic repetitions.
The resulting imagery could be a thought, a statement, or an idea unfolding.
“The shapes are random. Whatever I find aesthetically pleases or balances out, and makes sense on paper, I go with it,” said Gilani, who carved out downtime to draw between two to three jobs side-by-side. “You could say it is like a mind map, a form of venting out on paper,” he added.
Because the artwork is so random, everyone interprets it differently. The artist finds these contradicting opinions of the same piece interesting.
“Someone looked at the first one and they said it looks like a bird’s eye view of the city at night, and then somebody else said it looks like a bird that has been shot in the eye and has blown away,” he added.
The alternate perspectives lend diversity to the series, beckoning many in various ways.
Keeping in mind the multidimensional nature of his work, the artist has plugged hooks in a way that the buyer can hang it on any of the four sides, suiting their preference.
Commenting on the series, artist and curator Zara Sajid opined, “Using black and white for illustration depicts the artist’s focus on showing detail rather than colour. To pen down every minute detail that seems to engross the onlooker more than a colourful life-sized painting would is an art that Hassan has managed to portray.”
Meanwhile, another artist Nayha Jehangir, who has been familiar with Gilani’s work for quite some time, said it has an almost meditative quality to it. “The black-and-white engravings create a delicate contrast, lending it a motif feel,” she added.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 5th, 2014.
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