Retrospective artwork: Rahi’s work a guide for upcoming painters

Permanent display shows a merger of his previous style with new simplified strokes


APP August 18, 2015
One of the painting by Mansur Rahi. PHOTO: .mansoorrahi.com

ISLAMABAD: The permanent display of Mansur Rahi’s retrospective work is serving artists, art students and visitors as a source of attraction at the National Art Gallery (NAG).

The work covers the period from 1957, portraying paintings and drawings that depict abstraction yet the visual imagery remains representational. It marks another difference between Rahi’s early work in Karachi and his later work in Islamabad.

Such dissimilarities are amalgamated through an essence of cubism that runs through his entire body of work, creating an interplay of opposites. Cubism was a major and highly significant 20th century art movement pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. It revolutionised European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. It is no coincidence that when Rahi, during his academic period in 1959, used blocks of colour rendered in an unambiguous manner to constitute the face of the subject in portrait study.

The same blocks are still strongly evident in his work even after 50 years.

In the present exhibition his work displays a merger between his previous style of cubism with new simplified intuitive strokes. They flow continuously and freely from end to end, revealing human and animal forms, broken up, analysed and re-assembled in an abstract form.

These additional spontaneous and long strokes provide the abstract forms with a strong dynamic element and give the illusion of subject to be in motion.  In his work, the subject is easily perceived. The intellectual process begins after its recognition, unless his intention is based on a purely visual aesthetic in a case where cerebral is rejected in favour of physical.

The later phase of Rahi’s career began in 1983 when he changed his residence from Karachi to Islamabad. He describes this period as rather peaceful. His art shifted from portrayal of struggle to one of peace as mountains, beauty and romance began to be depicted in his work.

PNCA Director Visual Arts Mussarat Naheed Imam said the NAG is proud to have such collection as it is also a great source of teaching and guiding the upcoming painters. She said the NAG wants to promote the value of this national treasure at global level.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19th, 2015.

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