Howard Hodgkin brings art to life
Karachi: An exhibition of paintings by British artist Howard Hodgkin opened at the Canvas Art Gallery on Saturday.
Comprising 12 of the artist’s works, 11 prints and a painting, the exhibition is a depiction of his talent and creativity.
The art show, based on holdings of the British Council collection in the UK, is a collage of abstract forms: splashes, blobs, dots, shapes, and clashes of bright, bold colours that merge and separate apparently without reason.
One of the works, titled ‘Mango’, is the only one perhaps that could be considered an exercise in realism.
The colouring is such that it makes the whole thing come alive and makes the fruit look luscious.
Hodgkin is a lyrical colourist, indeed. The other works are all an exercise in abstract art. However, there are others that call for flights of imagination.
For instance, there’s a work titled ‘Still Life in a Restaurant’, an oil-on-wood, which is just a collage of bright coloured dots and blobs within a rectangular space.
It is entirely up to the viewer’s imagination. The more fertile the imagination, the easier would it be to figure out what the artist is trying to convey. Imagination has a far greater role to play than the eye.
The show includes both prints and paintings. His work titled ‘Girl at Night’ shows a human figure with a featureless face: just an orb against a black background.
It is entirely up to the viewers’ imagination to figure out for themselves that it is supposed to be a girl.
On the other hand, there’s a work titled ‘The Storm’, a hand-coloured lithograph. It is an exercise in the impressionist school of art and depicts a thick black cloud against a dark blue background. It certainly signifies a storm.
Hodgkin’s works are characterised by deep emotion and bold gestures. The exhibition runs up until July 31.
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