ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: ‘The Man Who Wasn’t There’, a group exhibition of three young artists – Suleman Aqeel Khilji, Ali Baba and Sajid Khan – opened at the Satrang Gallery on Tuesday.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Ambassador of France to Pakistan Philippe Thiebaud.

Mr Thiebaud said: “The exhibition was very interesting as I saw the creation of works of art by three Pakistani artists each bringing different traditions and techniques from the region to what are essentially very contemporary pieces. There are obvious differences amongst the works but there is also commonality.”

He particularly appreciated the selection of the trio as there was a “dialogue between their art”.

Zahra Khan, the curator of Satrang, said: “This show is decidedly more dark and macabre than Satrang’s previous exhibitions, as the artists explore the murkier side of existence; the fleeting temporality of being. They are eager to capture and preserve the delicate footprint that man leaves upon the earth. Their work effectively highlights the depths of the emotions and phenomena that exist beneath the surface.”

Mehmoona Riaz, a miniaturist who has exhibited her own work at Satrang, said: “These are three artists working in three distinct mediums but they have all engaged with the murkier and more mysterious depths of being.”

Suleman Khilji’s representations mimic photographic negatives that are controlled by light and are populated by strange distorted figures.

Khilji’s masterful paintings are full of hazy atmospheric smoke reflecting light creating a wonderland for the viewer’s inquisitive gaze.

Suleman was born in Quetta and grew up there. He remembers having heard beautiful myths and seen beautiful things but reality today no longer fits the same mould.

He says he is influenced by what he reads and experiences and one of the earliest books to have an impact was the Qasasul Anbiya, and more recently works by Bertrand Russell and Khushwant Singh.

In investigating the light and dark, Suleman says he is “investigating the inner self and in all things the existence of the dark gives value to the light”.

Sajid Ali’s depictions of the skies, full of stars and clouds, are built upon a much deeper absorption and transformation of childhood beliefs into a disillusioned adult reality. These beautiful pieces are heavily embedded in ominous realities that resulted in disappointment.

If there was one word to describe Sajid’s work, it would be evocative. He says that these paintings were not planned but “happened without intent”.

They were an overlapping of the hard and soft, where the former is reality and the latter memories.

Hailing from Malakand, Sajid is a contemporary miniaturist who has transferred the techniques and orientation on detail of that art form to much larger canvases or more appropriately wasli, which is the handmade paper used for miniatures.

Huma Khan, a visitor to the gallery, said that she did not know much about art but she liked Sajid’s work as “it is dark but with a bright element to it”.

Finally Ali Baba’s delicately moulded figural sculptures explore the human body itself and the imprint it leaves behind.

His renderings delicately depict the tangible and translucent aspects of man.

In Ali’s own words, “My work is process dependent and the inspiration is the body. I envision my pieces but to speak they must be executed meticulously. Then they need to grow on the viewer because each piece has something to convey but it is screaming in silence.”

By exploring these mysterious avenues these artists embrace the visible and invisible segments of life, nature and even culture.

These three artists are aware that dreams and nightmares are intertwined and that space itself is divided into positive and negative. They draw the viewer into unusual worlds which are eerily different from what they are accustomed to observing.