Written by: Nimra Khan
Posted on: June 23, 2023 | 
| 中文
Renaissance Kwame Nkrumah, Selma James and C.L.R James by Ahsan Javaid
A recent group show at Canvas Gallery, “Mankind”, brings together 8 artists whose works feature portraits in some form or another. They feature people, the collective humanity and civilizations, offering a commentary on the ways in which mankind has existed and interacted with this world through time, how it has lived and evolved, loved and hated, laughed and cried, died and decayed.
AB Rehman fuses art with technology to create images with the aid of Augmented Reality that are an amalgam of the past and the future, the familiar and the unknown. He presents iconic art historical images of statues, associated with different civilizations and religions from across the world, giving them a modern treatment with a painting style akin to pop-art, and then superimposing futuristic tech gadgets onto the faces for a surreal, cyborg-like result. The works thus forge a link between past, present and future, hinting at mankind’s next step in the evolutionary process.
The LMAO Buddha by AB Rehman
Ahsan Javaid brings a unique concept to life in his series of works, whose themes are crowdsourced and the result, a collaboration with both artists and non-artists. The focus of these works is people and their stories, of forbidden love, passion, history and politics. The work becomes personal yet collective at the same time, told through symbolism and a layered imagery derived from images provided by the collaborators, executed in conflicting yet complimentary styles, from black and white painting to color blocks and line drawings.
Ahsan Memon’s work, on the other hand, is willingly devoid of deep concepts and more focused on materiality and process. The hazy faces are painted in dull, earthy hues, with barely defined features, eyes closed and lifeless expressions. The artist is invoking the idea of decay as the faces seem to almost fade away, making one think about the ephemerality of life. An odd detail that seems to connect the three paintings is a tiny pearl earing, which stands out strikingly in the otherwise subdued palette. It seems to speak of the endurance of material objects even as organic life fades away, or perhaps relays a message of rebirth, a soft glowing light beyond the gloom.
Wojood by Ahsan Memon
Mariam Arshad’s paintings takes the phenomenon of public roadside grooming establishments in Pakistan frequented by mostly grown men, and flips the visual to replace men with children and women. The result is bizarre, and the realistic depictions amplify the peculiarity. The work seems to raise many questions surrounding gender roles and disparity, the access to public spaces and community, the blurring of public and private. “Unself Myself”, is particularly interesting in the way the portrait is presented, the model wears mismatched casual garb, yet sits poised, a foaming brush delicately places in her upturned palm. Her hair is covered by a rag and a sheet is romantically draped over one shoulder and, in her lap, almost like a model from a Renaissance painting, and her foamed up face is turned to one side, eyes downcast. The duality creates a humorous contrast that makes this work quite effective.
Extremely Neutral by Mariam Arshad
Coming from a Pukhtoon background, Noormah Jamal’s work usually centers around oral histories, challenging dominant narratives and breaking stereotypes. For this current show, in her work, “Weeds of Cantonment”, she speaks in a metaphor through her glazed ceramic “weeds” with tiny facial orbs nestled within. She writes, “Some spaces of neglect breed dreamers. The want, the need to be seen, yet, they are unplanned, un-wanted, unpleasant to most, yet so resilient, so persistent, small but many. What happens when they infiltrate the "safe zones," the restricted and privileged areas?” This seems to be pointing towards unplanned settlements on the edges of privileged cantonment areas, which also become homes for many refugees. These weeds are painted with white, black and red stripes, the colors painted on protected trees in these privileged areas, so they can mimic and blend in order to survive, belong and thrive.
Weeds of Cantonment I by Noormah Jamal
Syed Hussain also comes from a minority group which has faced its share of violence and discrimination. Hailing from the Hazaras, his work centers around recreating official identification documents from his family members, kind of a proof of belonging after his identity has been constantly questioned due to his physical appearance. The photorealistic miniature paintings mimic every detail to perfection, yet certain liberties taken by the artist help drive the narrative and pose certain questions. The current works recreate family photos, but what has been omitted creates a sinister mystery. It seems a tale of loss and erasure, which is far too common in his ethnic group and where he comes from.
Untitled 8, Children Series by Syed Hussain
As the artist’s role in the current age demands, the artists in this show have used the human form to talk about human experience, provide critical inquiry into the world around them, to extract points of intrigue and moments of joy and to point out and question the injustices and perhaps offer a commentary on the meaning of life. They have questioned some of the values on which our society is based, wondering if there is perhaps an alternate, better way for mankind to exist and thrive, rather than just survive. That is what art does, it takes us beyond just survival.
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