KARACHI, April 4: It would be an exercise in futility to try and wax eloquent on the work of the incomparable Sadequain. Artists like him surpass that phase where analysing their creative endeavours fetches nothing: you just have to marvel at how and why they’re able to achieve immortality by creating art that transcends life. An exhibition of artworks by three internationally renowned Pakistani painters — Gulgee, Jamil Naqsh and Sadequain — opened at the Eye for Art Gallery on Wednesday. Some of the exhibits on display are owned by the gallery while others are taken from private collections.
The swirling whirlpool of colours that Gulgee draws his viewers into reminds you of the consuming passion with which the artist used to splash colours on canvas. His colours are characters that are not simple in disposition. They are as complicated and lost in their own world as the artist himself was. Even in their fiercest abstract form, they speak and give away their inner self.
Gulgee knows how to give tongue to colours.
Jamil Naqsh blows the mind with his terrific nudes. His subject may not be the most gorgeous on planet earth but while drawing the female figure he brings forth the innate aesthetics that is hidden underneath the curvaceous body. His understanding of the meaningfulness of postures is uncanny. He has, in the words of John Keats, negative capability, that is, the artist’s ability to look at the world sans the desire to get a sense of its contradictory facets. The artist’s calligraphy-on-paper pieces on display are no less amazing.
Sadequain’s love for history basically stems from his admiration for imperfect human beings. The flowing, cascading lines with which he draws men and women is mind-blowing because by merely seeing (and being in awe of) those lines the viewer gets the whole picture. Imagine a man on his knees and a woman wearing the crown acting weird. What Sadequain does is that he shows the man’s crown on the floor and creates a magical story. And yes, the crooked fingers of the man are just as important.
The exhibition will continue until April 10.
