Written by: Areej Ahmed
Posted on: February 10, 2020 | 
Conversations - 2
Mobina Zuberi, a painter, curator and an art collector, is one of Pakistan’s eminent contemporary artists. Zuberi grew up in a household where art was a part of her daily life. Not only was she surrounded by classical paintings, she was exposed to the presence of artists, writers and intellectuals in her home from a very young age. Such early experience molded her into the kind of artist that she is today. She likes to refer to herself as a “women’s painter”, and her paintings of pensive female figures have been placed in exhibitions in Pakistan, India and London.
It is worth noting that Zuberi is also a renowned collector and gallery owner. Her collections include the classical paintings of Jamini Roy, Abdur Rehman Chughtai and Zain-ul-Abideen. Her interest has been largely towards the impressionist figurative works of Jamil Naqsh and Bashir Mirza, two of her favorite artists. In an interview, she confessed that she always buys Pakistani art, and feels a deep attachment to sub-continental art over all other regional types.
Her latest exhibition called ‘Conversations’, has opened up in Karachi’s Canvas Art Gallery. ‘Conversations’ departs from her portrait painting into the realm of the abstract. She picked out elements as simple as basic shapes that are around us in our daily lives as her subject. The shapes we often take for granted, take centre stage in her paintings. The idea of reflecting on the form of shapes began ten years ago when Zuberi noticed everyday phenomena like a rectangular rug on the floor, or a wet glass stain left on a table or even reflections in windows.
Conversations - 8
These shapes retained their distinct form, but also became related to each other through conversations with one another. These shapes interact with each other and the negative space which came about as the result of the shapes’ compositional placements. The medium she used for her paintings was oil paint on a handmade paper, which would allow the extra dimension of texture to the shapes. For example, in Conversations – 5, she plays and innovates beautifully with the texture of the paper to show zigzags, spots and crumbled surfaces. The additional tonal play shifting between rich and earthy colors, also add interesting dimensions.
Conversations - 5
Though the elements of the paintings seem to come together effortlessly, every little decision has been deliberate. For example, a small dot in a corner was of the utmost importance, because it gave the artwork a necessary shape to feel complete, just as one person can completely alter a conversation. In Conversations – 2, every little white dot contributed to the dreamy, luminescent impression of the painting. Elsewhere, the little things were the biggest stars each piece.
Zuberi’s paintings were overall mesmerizing to behold. They gave the viewer a sense of calm, allowing them contemplate and enjoy the conversations that both the paintings, and elements inside them, were having with each other.
Not all paintings or artworks have to have an extremely complicated concept, for beauty can manifest from the simplest forms. The everyday art enthusiast should be able to enjoy the artwork and create their own interpretations, for what conversations these paintings are having with each other. The more important aspect for Zuberi is that the work achieves a meditative quality, putting one in deep thought and introspection by looking at them.
Conversations - 12
Zuberi is not interested in painting realistic landscapes or incorporating nature in her artwork. She believes that these art forms do not do justice to the beauty and room for experimentation within paintings. The negative spaces, and the light/dark contrasts of each painting allows us to see everyday objects in new lights, and allows Zuberi to turn to an exciting new trajectory within her work, as an artist and a collector.
The exhibition is up at Canvas Gallery till 13th February.
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