LAHORE, May 11: An exhibition of modern and contemporary works ‘After All’ opened at Royaat Art Gallery on Wednesday.

The exhibition, on the theme of appropriation, and curated by Quddus Mirza, had paintings on display inspired by existing art works.

Paintings of eight artists were displayed at the exhibition reflecting an interesting and intelligent take on previous art pieces.

The artists are: Imran Channa, Amber Hammad, Ayaz Jokhio, Scheherezade Junejo, Ahmed Ali Manganhar, Rukhe Nilofer, Naqsh Raj and Anwar Saeed.

Royaat Director Faryal Latif told reporters the works sought to examine the universality of art as the artists contextualised it and re-cast it through the lens of modernity.

The paintings depict a diversity of artistic movements that are re-visualised through various media and styles.

In a striking reinterpretation of Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (The Luncheon on the Grass) by Édouard Manet, Ahmed Ali Manganhar explores the relationship between iconic imagery and an individual’s aesthetic perception.

‘The Third Eye’ by Naqsh Raj presented a brilliant vision of the world order in the 21st century through the artist’s playful depiction of the world’s leaders seated for a last supper. Irony is also the subject of Ayaz Jokhio’s painting that examines the underlying definition of art itself.

The show also included dynamic works from Imran Channa’s Badshahnama series as he deconstructed the popular historical narrative to illustrate the non-linear trajectory of history and artistic form.

‘After All’ illustrates the dynamism of Pakistani contemporary artists, as they questions the space for creativity in modernity and their relationship to iconic historical works of arts. The exhibition will remain on display until May 18.

GCU: The Government College University’s Minhas Art Gallery on Wednesday displayed abstract paintings, highlighting frustration, stress and terror prevailing in society.

As least 24 paintings by noted artist Rakhshanda Atawar have been put on display at the exhibition opened by GCU acting vice-chancellor Prof Dr Ikramul Haq.

Most of paintings were mainly done with charcoal but the artist also used black pastel to give depth and white chalk to give a hazy smoky effect.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Haq said the most attractive aspect in the work of Atawar was the open-endedness of her themes.