Miniature art: Social issues in a flurry of colours

Group exhibition of 50 miniature artists begins at Ejaz Art Gallery

LAHORE: “Can a mother ever say her child is ugly? Students participating in this exhibition are like my children. Their work is different, unique and versatile,” said Prof Bashir Ahmed when he was asked to comment on paintings on display at a group exhibition that kicked off at Ejaz Art Gallery on Thursday.

“I have taught them the basics of art. It is now their turn to impress others with their work,” said Ahmed, a celebrated teacher and a miniature artist, after inaugurating the show, titled Creative Scripts.

“Fifty artists mean 50 different minds,” he said.

“I came to the gallery to arrange a solo show. Instead, they asked me to curate shows for them,” said curator Hira Zubair, a miniature artist who graduated from the National College of Arts in 2010.

Zubair said she had worked for six months to arrange the exhibition. She said the majority of participating artists had graduated in the recent years. Both traditional and modern miniature paintings are on display, said Zubair whose three pieces are part of the show. She said her work covered various socio-political issues. Naireen Zia is displaying a triptych made using gouache on wasli.

“I like playing out my imagination. I have explored a flower and a human foot in my painting.

I tried to find a connection between the two. The work hence takes a surreal turn as both forms grow out of my mind.” Farah Mahmood Adnan, also an NCA graduate, is one of the gallery’s curators.

“My work deals with a range of issues one faces being a female (and an artist) in a male-dominated society. The current series, Metamorphosis, is based on my past and present, my personal experiences and the hurdles I faced while working being a mother. The trees in my paintings represent me and the flowers, my children,” said Adnan who is displaying two pieces, in mix media on marbled wasli.

Sajid Ali’s two pieces are about picking on daily life and common objects.

“I focus on the concept of how our politicians use us as cards, as in a game, like the kings used to,” said Ali.

Jugni Choudhary, a mother of two, is displaying two diptychs.

“Being an artist in an era where ‘unique’ is everything, I belong to the old school. Someone who prefers paper over screen and a handwritten letter over emails,” she said.

“I like visually recording the times that I live in. I like to portray the political situations. I want people to understand my work… I don’t use a lot of symbolism. My work is quite literal… they can easily understand and associate with it.”

Of the two paintings of Saher Shah Rizvi, one is a diptych.

“My environment and surroundings motivate me. I was inspired by the beauty of hair, be it animal’s or human’s. My interpretation of hair in this body of work comes from composing it with different things, creating multiple meanings. I want people to understand and respond to my work according to their ideas and views.”

The exhibition will continue until January 25.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2015.