Reflection of love: Hope in the time of distress

Ajab Khan dedicates his collection to honor the victims of Peshawar massacre

ISLAMABAD: An art exhibition featuring paintings by contemporary artist Ajab Khan opened at Jharoka Art Gallery on Tuesday.

Khan’s landscape paintings reflect a love for his hometown Dera Ismail Khan, where he said he had spent the best years of his life.

The countryside imagery evokes a feeling of purity, serenity and simplicity. The minute details of mustard fields, pale sand and subdued shrubs exude an understated tenderness. The rhythm of streams and willowy trees are realistic as the artist has painted scenes on-the-spot.

Imbued with a rustic feel, mud houses and flowers growing in wilderness are reminiscent of untouched nature, far removed from the trappings of urban life and modern construction. Treated with knife, the paintings are layered and textured, balancing earthen tones with traces of bright natural hues. Reflections of arching trees over lakes add more depth and diversity to the visual art pieces.

Nahida Raza, the gallery curator commended Khan’s artworks, highlighting the attention-to-detail and the finesse with which he has painted.

At first glance, the large canvases may seem to display similar scenes but as one goes around the gallery, subtleties emerge with a well-rounded balance of light and shadows.

Through the art display, Khan aims to honour the memory of the lives lost in the Peshawar Army Public School victims. “While I realise that it is an irreplaceable loss, I’ve tried to in my own little way to bring some momentary respite from the collective grief that all of us are feeling. My paintings are my message of hope in these distressing times,” he said.

“It is heartening to see a completely different side of Dera Ismail Khan than the one you get to see on news channels and the paintings depict an innocence and beauty of the land that largely remains hidden from most urban dwellers,” said Ayesha Farooq, a guest at the exhibition.

Khan has also painted calligraphy and figurative art. The current exhibition which features a total of 24 oil-on-canvas paintings is his first solo show in the capital. The exhibition will continue till December 31.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2014.