Exercises in Imagining the Other opens at Canvas
KARACHI: Since time immemorial, artists have tried to grapple with the issue of the tussle between body and soul. Sometimes they get transfixed on the body and consider the soul as its extension. Sometimes the focus seems to shift to the other side. Anwar Saeed is an established artist. His study of the human body has often been appreciated for its incisiveness. He is a keen observer of life and its intricacies hence the body always plays an important role in his creative pursuits.
A show of Anwar Saeed’s digital prints on archival paper artworks opened at the Canvas Art Gallery on Tuesday. It is entitled ‘Exercises in Imagining the Other’. The title is a bit of a mind-teaser. The reason for it is that the word ‘imagining’ gives the indication as if there is an element of unreality at play here. But the images that he has created can be construed differently.
‘Execution 1’, apart from imagining the other, appears to be a commentary on the socio-political happenings that the artist can’t seem to get enough of. But the theme changes with ‘Langoti Yaar’ and tells the viewer that at a very basic level these images are to do with ‘individuals’ rather than ‘groups’. Even if they’re to do with groups, at the end of the day it is the trial, tribulations and perhaps achievements of the individuals that attract the artist and compel him to indulge in art.
The exhibition will remain open till Oct 4.
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