Fine Arts Pakistan Gallery organises exhibition entitled ‘Horizons’
By: Ahtesham Azhar
KARACHI: Fine Arts Pakistan Gallery (FAPG) recently organised a group exhibition entitled ‘Horizons’ featuring work of four famous and renowned artists that depicted women in various moods.
Artists who participated in the exhibition were Muhammad Ali Bhatti, Maqbool Ahmed, Moazzam Ali and Chitra Pritam.
Muhammad Ali Bhatti is well known for portraying people of Thar desert with exciting and subtle emotions. His vibrant and bold brush strokes bring life to his canvases. Moazzam Ali’s sensuous and idealistic village women carrying Matka has been very popular. His decorative and imaginative female figures are his signature style. Maqbool Ahmed’s dream women seem to be floating in an unknown space expressing the feelings of women. His figures are juxtaposed with complex floating elements as her dreams flying up in the infinite skies.
Chitra Pritams’s enthusiasm for spiritual rendering of women is the connotation of ‘Nirvana’ having multiple dimensions of her deeds.
The group show of contemporary artists of Pakistan was organised basically with the concept of welcoming the breezy and beautiful winter season. It could be called as display of diversity of styles, colours, particularly portrayal of different aspects of woman in their own signature style and techniques of artists.
Almost 30 paintings of all four artists were on display. Bhatti through his painting promoted Sindh’s pure culture. A painting of Muhammad Ali Bhatti showed figure of a woman carrying a Matka on her head. The woman decorated herself in traditional Thar style, wearing white bangles on arms and wrists and her shirt was decorated with handmade embroidery work. Another painting of Bhatti, portraying a traditional man of Thar, was depicted Sindhi culture. Bhatti mostly used dark colours in paintings.
Talking to Daily Times, Bhatti said that culture was the source, which joins together. He said, “Of course I have portrayed figures, which prop up Sindhi culture but my aim behind paintings of culture is to promote Pakistani culture not only Sindhi. Sindh is a part of culture but it is a part of Pakistan as well.”
A painting of Maqbool Ahmed grabbed the focus of visitors. In the painting, two ladies seemed in Saree, the traditional dress of eastern world. Both figures were made-up of light colours. The picture was depicting two women expressing their wishes, feelings or desires. One more painting of two women was also shown. One of them was looking to a square crystal shape. Ahmed used light colours in painting and the work was revolving around figures of women.
Ahmed said that he used to paint figures of women and in every painting to express women’s feelings. His paintings were never being cleared, as he used to add something as an addition of paintings’ message.
Works on display by Chitra Pritam was also about women figures, however Pritam focused only on faces. She used hard brush. Her work was about happy, sad and serious faces of simple women.
Moazzam Ali’s paintings were depicting villages’ environment, where a rich woman decorated herself with necklace, bangles, lipstick and a scarf. He gave figure with a touch of different situations such as a woman standing on door waiting for someone, sitting at room like bride, sleeping at night.
He used dark and light colours in his paintings. The exhibition would continue till Monday (today).
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