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ISLAMABAD: An exhibition of Islamic calligraphy by various artists will open here on December 8 at Gallery Louvre featuring unique art in variety.
Artists including Ahmed Khan, M.A.Bukhari, Bushra Zeeshan, Rashid Ali and Javed Qamar will display different styles of calligraphy following different schools of Islamic art.
The exhibition will continue till December 16. The art of calligraphy dates back to almost as long as of written language. Calligraphy is a type of visual art which is often called the art of fancy lettering. A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is “the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner”.
Ahmed Khan is a distinguished artist and educationist. His work is celebrated for the luminous paintings, in which a traditional interpretation of line and form are reassessed as calligraphic design.
The gestural beauty of line is translated by the artist into an exciting contemporary personal expression assimilating a unique and complex process. Acrylic on canvas by M.A. Bukhari has calligraphed ninety nine names of Allah in different collages of colors in different sizes. In his works, M A Bukhari describes beauty through painting techniques and blends magnificently the modern art with cultural and religious values.
He is known for his large canvases, broad strokes and vibrant and lively colors, which signify his creativity as well as aesthetic sensibilities. The artist uses the paint generously, applying it in thick layers with an abandon that is eye-catching and bewildering at the same time Among new artists Bushra Zeeshan is showcasing her work in both acrylic and oil.
Her unique Kufic calligraphies are elegant and rather uniform script styled calligraphies, the borders contain details with delicate patterns which provide a perfect balance to the strong fonts. Her work is a combination of square and angular lines on one hand, and compact bold circular forms on the other. The vertical strokes are short, while the horizontal strokes were long and extended. Apart from Bushra's work the remaining calligraphies are in cursive script that dates back at least to the first decades of the Muslim era. Rashid Ali is well known for his palette knife work in which pigeons also made an appearance with his calligraphies of Thuluth font that is a more impressive in stately calligraphic style.
His colorful backgrounds and knife execution is definitely a new to the capital. Using the medium of oil on canvas, the artist portrays single words in an impressive appearance.
Javed Qamar's work can be described as calligraphy in antique style with his inspiration of 16th century calligraphy art. His alphabets in Arabic are very fine as compare to his contemporaries.
The use of antique colors combined with gold leafing takes the viewer in the past, leaving them with a sense of excitement.
His painting leads the viewer to the depths in a slower process, especially in the Islamic Dream Land series; the artist has succeeded in bringing in all the possible features of the overall idea and the ideology of the subject, said Alina Saeed, Curator of the gallery.
Every door appears opening new door to show further depths of the topic. The painting starts from the middle of the canvas and spreads both right and left, exhibiting the broad outlay of visualization. The balanced color and texture makes the whole painting intact, which is the real brilliance of the artist.
According to the curator, “Javed's passion and love for details is evident in his work but he is constantly developing new techniques thus affecting his work, giving it depth, meaning and maturity”.
