Playing with perspective more than colours to create tension in his works, the artist has skilfully constructed his deconstructed works. PHOTO: COURTESY CHAWKANDI ART GALLERY
Ali Karimi’s artworks are chaotic. They are disintegrated and not simple. The viewer is left confused as the young artist skilfully plays with the perspective of his masterpieces.
Karimi’s works are on display at the Chawkandi Art gallery. The show, titled ‘Chaos’, opened on Wednesday and will run till January 28. As former Herald editor Saquib Hanif pointed out, it looks like the artist has ‘disintegrated and juggled the pieces together’ in his works.
“It is structure that I have worked with,” said the quiet artist, who was visibly uncomfortable speaking about his works. “Circles relate to infinity and I find them very interesting.”
Many of Karimi’s works require a closer inspection as the structure of the drawing itself becomes quite complex. It seems like the images were being deconstructed into disintegrated forms; these forms evoke the concept of molecules in a viewer’s mind.
An intriguing quality of Karimi’s works is that he plays with perspective more than colours to create tension in his works. The construction of his deconstructed works is quite engaging. The images are so artfully played with that what looks like deconstruction at one glance seems like the construction of the same image on another.
When asked if the chaos in his artworks was a political comment, the artist was reluctant to acknowledge that he had been affected by the situation around him. However, he agreed when his friend, artist Kashif Ahmed, said that “every artist is subconsciously affected” by the external environment. “He doesn’t know it consciously,” he said, pointing towards an artwork. “But this one actually looks like a bomb blast.”
One of the series, made of graphite on paper, depicts two figures of young men fighting each other. What is appealing in this particular series is the way how the artist only shows certain parts of the bodies of the men. Heads, fists and shoes are the most prominent in this series of five works, which have a powerful, gripping effect on the viewer. The images remind you of the violent scenario that prevails in Karachi.
Talking about his works, gallery owner Zohra Hussain said that Karimi has been exhibiting at Chawkandi for the last three years. “Ali is a very talented young artist. He has been selling his works since he was studying at [National College of Art] NCA. His drawing is flawless and extremely tidy.”
The response of Karimi’s show was such that a woman named Parveen Ali left him with the promise that she will also go to Mohatta Palace Museum to see the works the artist has displayed there. “I love his works.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 23rd, 2015.
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