Print

    Art Review: Masculinity - Then and Now – Pakistani Artists at Rossi & Rossi, London

    Written by: Samar F. Zia
    Posted on: December 17, 2018 | | 中文

    Berries and Men So Merry by Maria Khan

    The curatorial premise of The Perfect Gentleman rests on a desire to examine what it means to be masculine in today’s time and age. With movements such as Me Too on the rise, it questions how the traditional meaning of masculinity has been impacted. In this vain, curator Zahra Khan has selected young Pakistani artists Sophia Balagamwala, Saud Baloch, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Maria Ali Khan, and Abdullah Qureshi.

    Where some of the visuals are more relevant to Khan’s idea than others, there is one thing that is made increasingly evident. A more versatile representation of men in contemporary art is on the rise. Art history has seen an abundance of women represented by male artists, a fact which has often been synonymous with the objectification of women in the arts. Needless to say, there hasn’t been a lack of male representation in the history of art-making but it has mostly been glorifying as opposed to objectifying. In present times, this representation has evolved to become egalitarian and inclusive.

    Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s practice overtly champions queer politics visualised via kitsch textile pieces. The works included in the exhibit are bold in their outlook and borrow from ethnic Pakistani textile ornamentation. Bhutto’s two pieces in the show Guerrilla Jang Key Hathiar and Setting Sun are part of a larger body of work that imagines a fantastical future where Queer Muslim’s challenge Western Imperialism and rigid gender and religious categorisation.

    Detail of Guerrilla Jang Kay Hathiyar by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

    Detail of Guerrilla Jang Kay Hathiyar by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

    Not a Commander by Abdullah Qureshi

    Not a Commander by Abdullah Qureshi

    Abdullah Qureshi makes large-scale gestural paintings of silhouettes that are vastly monochrome in colour. He is interested in urban queer cultures. His visuals are a result of personal and intimate conversations about relationships with friends and family. This firsthand knowledge is meant to shed light on the sentimental and emotional side of men that is lost in masculinity and are the source of his subjective paintings.

    Golden Opportunist by Sophia Balagamwala

    Golden Opportunist by Sophia Balagamwala

    Unlike Bhutto’s and Qureshi’s work, Sophia Balagamwala’s paintings represent men in a more traditional fashion, with massive moustaches and medallions. However, the intention is anything but an ode to patriarchal gender roles. Instead, owing to its execution that borrows from children's storybooks, the elaborately comical style of image-making ridicules traditional notions of masculinity.

    Infliction I-V by Saud Baloch

    Infliction I-V by Saud Baloch

    Surrounded by works that are larger than life, I almost missed Saud Baloch’s work comprising of five gilded bowls, albeit the cosy nature of the gallery. These understated pieces require intimate inspection and it did not help that they were displayed below eye level. At first glance, they appear as textured gold bowls, but on closer inspection they each have a black and white image of men in a variety of postures embedded in the base on the inside. The images vary from those of prisoners of Guantanamo Bay, to historic figures from art history as well as those that Baloch has taken himself. As is suggested by the titles Infliction I-V, Baloch’s work is concerned with atrocities committed against young men. This may allude to the sensitivity and pain that men are not allowed to express because it goes against the norm of masculinity.

    Placed diagonal to Baloch’s work are Maria Khan’s large-scale contrasting drawings. Her work is the kind that pulls the viewer in, owing to her subject, i.e. portraits of women. Minimal in technique with particular attention to detail around the eyes, the work is powerful with an element of sensuality as the mostly-unclothed female subject of her drawings stare unabashedly back at the viewer. Even though different in style and medium, the means of the work invokes a feeling of artists like Manet of the impressionist period, where the brazen subject looked out of the canvas, at the viewer. In the two pieces Miss Fortune and Berries and Men so Merry displayed in the exhibition, the linear contour marks on the body and face add age to the subject, but there isn’t a hint of masculinity in these aesthetic pieces; from the roses to the berries that are part of the drawings, each expresses the various facets and layers of women’s personalities.

    The idea behind The Perfect Gentleman is an apt one - the work focuses on either queerness or machoism (or the lack thereof). It also brings to light a related matter that is lacking in representation in art thus far i.e. a representation of balance, where masculinity encompasses sensitivity towards and understanding of feminism and women, as opposed to just the polar ends of being a man i.e. macho or queer.

    The exhibition is a collaboration between London’s Rossi and Rossi Gallery and Project Art Divvy. It continues until the 31st of January 2019.


    As the new year begins, let us also start anew. I’m delighted to extend, on behalf of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and in my own name, new year’s greeting and sincere wishes to YOULIN magazine’s staff and readers.

    Only in hard times can courage and perseverance be manifested. Only with courage can we live to the fullest. 2020 was an extraordinary year. Confronted by the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Pakistan supported each other and took on the challenge in solidarity. The ironclad China-Pakistan friendship grew stronger as time went by. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects advanced steadily in difficult times, become a standard-bearer project of the Belt and Road Initiative in balancing pandemic prevention and project achievement. The handling capacity of the Gwadar Port has continued to rise and Afghanistan transit trade through the port has officially been launched. The Karakoram Highway Phase II upgrade project is fully open to traffic. The Lahore Orange Line project has been put into operation. The construction of Matiari-Lahore HVDC project was fully completed. A batch of green and clean energy projects, such as the Kohala and Azad Pattan hydropower plants have been substantially promoted. Development agreement for the Rashakai SEZ has been signed. The China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future has become closer and closer.

    Reviewing the past and looking to the future, we are confident to write a brilliant new chapter. The year 2021 is the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. The 100-year journey of CPC surges forward with great momentum and China-Pakistan relationship has flourished in the past 70 years. Standing at a new historic point, China is willing to work together with Pakistan to further implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, connect the CPEC cooperation with the vision of the “Naya Pakistan”, promote the long-term development of the China-Pakistan All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership with love, dedication and commitment. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan said, “We are going through fire. The sunshine has yet to come.” Yes, Pakistan’s best days are ahead, China will stand with Pakistan firmly all the way.

    YOULIN magazine is dedicated to promoting cultural exchanges between China and Pakistan and is a window for Pakistani friends to learn about China, especially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is hoped that with the joint efforts of China and Pakistan, YOULIN can listen more to the voices of readers in China and Pakistan, better play its role as a bridge to promote more effectively people-to-people bond.

    Last but not least, I would like to wish all the staff and readers of YOULIN a warm and prosper year in 2021.

    Nong Rong Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
    The People’s Republic of China to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
    January 2021