Written by: Nayha Jehangir Khan
Posted on: January 24, 2020 | 
Still Life with Pomegrantes
Irfan Cheema’s fourth solo show is currently being showcased at Tanzara Art Gallery; his still life painting series has captivated the hearts and minds of Islamabad’s art lovers and enthusiasts for a long time. My first interaction with the artist and his work was last year at Tanzara, where he was again showcasing an extensive collection that had travelled with him from his studio in Shanghai, China.
The oil paintings from his previous show “Tableaux”, could be interpreted and read for hours like a novella. Each standalone piece took me on a journey into the multi-cultural, oriental, botanical, artisanal and historical explorations of the artist. After meeting Cheema and getting to know his studio practice, I understand the nostalgia and emotion he invests into each piece. The mysterious finesse with which he conjures his compositions is revealed layer after layer, seamlessly blended into a balance between his physical and psychological world.
This year’s exhibition is titled “Repose”, inviting the viewer to share a moment that the artist has created on an earthy linen canvas, which emanates a state of calm, serenity and rest. Cheema had generously taken the time to converse with me during the opening of the show on 22nd January 2020, sharing his personal thought processes, experiences, adventures, connections with his chosen subject matter, observations and his unique understanding of his environment.
Still Life with Cherries & Kashmir Shawl
As it was in his previous series, there are fruits, flowers, birds, foliage, vases and bowls. This year we are introduced to new protagonists and actors in Cheema’s theatrical repertoire in the form of seashells and sunflowers. The colour composition is painstakingly accurate with the vividly saturated colours and distinctive curation of line. The painterly moments are an alchemical distillation of colour mixing, tonality and suggestion.
Still Life with a Shell & a Silver Pot
Viewing these paintings closely, Cheema’s presence is felt in each piece, as he leaves traces of windows and reflective forms that allude to the studio space surrounding the still life. In “Still Life with Lillies & Bulbuls”, the absence of the artist within the reflected studio space is intimate and purposely rendered. The warm ochre tones in the background are echoed in the intricately woven strokes of the Kashmiri Shawl in the foreground. The vase holding the bunch of lilies is off-centre, while the bulbuls direct the eye of the viewer back to the reflection in the vase. An intimate space is created for the viewer to step inside the painting.
Still Life with Lilies & Bulbuls
Cheema spends time with these objects, as they often come from his personal belongings at home. He then gathers them to create a unified and coherent organism on his canvas, as if the organism is a companion to him. The wholesome environment with which the viewer interacts is a literal reflection of Cheema’s life.
While the idea of creating these compositions is spontaneous, improvised, Cheema then drafts it with care and perfection. He is able to create fluidity with his bold highlights, playfully challenging the viewer’s optics. The slight variations in brushstroke, a crisp line replaced with a painterly one, introduce the artist’s hand on the canvas. The paintings, “Still Life with Peaches” and “Still Life with Shell and Silver Pot”, have an intimate soft light and weightlessness, alluding to a renaissance in Cheema’s visual vocabulary.
Still Life with Peaches
We experience a meeting of his deep understanding of light, perspective, form, line and colour. Modernists are able to translate realism into an idea and a feeling. Their objective is to transfer meaning and evolve with an understanding of their own selves. The moments of abstraction within the structure and order of these realistic representations is delightful. A stately banquet, luxurious and meticulously arranged, is served intimately to the viewer as a celebration of relationships and life.
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