Personally speaking, to be consciously aware of art that can be looked at repeatedly with enjoyment and admiration is not a common feat. Art is a secluded and in some ways an intimate experience, an individual’s reaction to a particular exhibition or piece of art is a special one. It is as if an individual learns to recognise timeless qualities that characterise and distinguish the intriguing virtues of an exhibit.

Upon entering Islamabad’s Gallery 6 where experimental painter Abid Hasan’s exhibition has been displayed, an unbelievable energy embraces the room. The solo show is titled, ‘Buzzing Bellows’ where uncertain emotions are unleashed on the canvas. Hasan, a fine arts graduate from the Karachi School of Arts, is a contemporary painter whose work is stimulating and exclusive and in many ways incomparable to the work of many other modern painters.

Hasan has gained proficiency, with intensive experimentation spread over several years, in creating paintings through the application of chemical processes and paints on layers of original silver leaf applied on canvas. The artist nurtures his composition through the assiduous and often painstaking application of chemical processes and oil paints on layers of original silver leaf applied on canvas.

One typically hears unusual art called three different things, often interchangeably, ‘innovative’, ‘avant-garde’ and ‘experimental’. In affiliation with this exhibition, ‘experimental’ would suit it best, where the notion of the dominant (the focusing component of a work of art which rules and transforms the remaining components) guarantees the integrity of the anatomy of the painting. It is the artistic element that Hasan values over all others.

He takes unfamiliarity as its dominant where his desire is for the results to be awe-inspiring to the point of looking perplexing. Importing ideas and conventions from one medium into another to create incredible textures and spectacular compositions are his forte.

It has taken the artist several years to master the gilding technique whereby he creates almost translucent yet metallic surfaces on the canvas. He exaggerates or expands his concept of the underlying social, political and economic problems in Pakistan by inconspicuously generating layer upon layer of silver leaf with oil colour on the surface. This process overwhelms the more familiar aspects of his artwork, distorting the entire thing into perhaps a surface, which evidently transforms into a vision of absolute magnificence.

There is a parallel relationship between chaos and beauty in artworks such as ‘Weeping blood I-VII’, ‘Monarchy’ and ‘Harvesting hatred I and II’. At first one would not anticipate that such dynamic pieces bursting with colour, form and spontaneity would depict something much more sinister and ominous.

‘Siyassi adakar I-X’ are cleverly composed pieces where the country’s political figures and parties are represented agreeing and disagreeing, fighting and arguing but are pretending to be in control in front of the awaam. ‘Murghoon ki larai’ (chickens fighting) is how the pieces are a reflection of the government and those running it.

Hasan’s solo show is an astounding exhibit, which is capable of perplexing viewers who are enticed by the splendour of the work. Giving artwork an imaginative touch on a most serious matter gives viewers an advantage to ponder and question the work displayed and the meanings it holds within.