Pleasing to the eye: A potpourri of colours

The artist's palette is vibrant, rich and engaging

KARACHI: As simple as it may sound, colours are what define Ziauddin Ahmed Junejo's artworks.

The exhibition opened at the Grandeur art gallery on Monday. The collection titled 'A Never-ending Christmas' comprises still life images in vivid colours arranged in a pot. The colours have a strong effect on the viewer as it feels like one is looking into a potpourri of colours.

Junejo's artworks are striking. The contents of the pots have a disguising quality. One might perceive them as perfect geometric shapes such as triangles or circles. However, these shapes appear to be pretty abstract when viewed in unison. Even when there is a stark comparison of many colours, they don't seem to dominate one another; instead, the artist skilfully balances them without giving the painting an overdone look. Perhaps it is the layers of paints and other media that give each shape its distinctive quality.

"The paintings are made in mixed medium," said Junejo, while speaking to The Express Tribune. "There are layers of water colour, oil paint, wax and pastel, to name a few. The idea is to blend them all in a harmonised pattern where colour becomes the subject."

Talking about his source of inspiration, Junejo paid credit to his mentor, Ahmed Pervez. Pervez's colour palette seems to have greatly influenced Junejo, who was his disciple. Referring to his paintings on display at the gallery, he said that he attributes this outburst of colour to a 'Pervezian quality'.

"There is a sense of beauty in colour," he said. "All the colours in my art have been derived from nature, particularly flowers."

Besides the colourful pots, a portrait of Junejo's friend and art critic, Riaz Rafi, engaged the audience. Interestingly, the visitors mistook the face as Junejo's until Rafi showed up. The artist had painted the portrait of his friend at least 10 years ago.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Rafi reminisced how the two friends once sat together on the rooftop during a power outage and Junejo painted the portrait. "He used to spend a lot of time at Pervez's and it is from there that he got his love for not only art but also these striking colours in his paintings," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2015.