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ART REVIEWS GALLERIES IN FULL SWING IN FEBRUARY After a month of inactivity, Karachi's galleries are competing again with exhibitions of established artists and new talents. The long awaited exhibition of Colin David's work is scheduled at the Junk Gallery. One of Pakistan's foremost painters, this will be Colin's first exhibition in Karachi for several years. The Indus Gallery is showing the work of the shy young painter Ayessha Quraishi, while Chawkandi Art will display a new collection, while at the Arts Council, a group display of calligraphic works are on view. More calligraphic works are on show at the Majmua Gallery where Riaz Raffi, Amad Samdani and Faiz Mohammad show their pieces. One of the few art exhibitions to be shown in January was held at the Pearl Continental Gallery where Aftab Zaffer displayed prints of his ink and watercolour paintings. Collectively titled 'Pakistan Past and Present', the thematic painter divides his work into series. Historic events, culture, scenic beauty and Pakistan's heroes are all components of the artist's oeuvre. His work reveals the artist as a patriot, one fascinated by his country's past and hopeful for its future. While he often exhibits prints of his work, Aftab retains the original paintings for his own collection. Once in a while, particular brilliance emerges on the local art scene by way of the all important thesis. At local art schools, each student searches for a thesis that is 'different'. It seldom happens. As Shakespeare said, "There is nothing new under the sun". An exception recently cropped up at the Karachi School of Art, where Zulfequar Raza chose 'Differentiating Monotype from Monoprint' as the subject for his thesis. While approaching his aesthetic problems from an intellectual point of view, the resultant expression is one of quiet strength accented with merging light and dark modulations. The most exciting talent to have emerged in quite a while, Zulfequar is presently in Japan, preparing for a solo exhibition. This is an artist to watch out for. Ayessha Quraishi is another unique young artist who, in her work, reconciles the formal demands of abstraction while reducing the subject to a point of departure. Her solo exhibition at the Indus Gallery is Ayessha's first in Karachi though she has experienced two solo displays; her first in Avignon, France, '95, and then in Islamabad in '97. Hanif Shezad's latest collection of watercolor paintings at the Clifton Art Gallery shows the artist moving in a new direction. Inspired by the Indus Valley Civilization, he explores the script and relics against a background of rocks and stones, textured as if by time. For over two decades, artists have struggles to transcribe the mystic phenomenon of the valley in their chosen mediums. Shezad's approach is another interesting point of view. The calligraphic pieces at Majmua Gallery were rendered in oils, some pieces featuring inlay work of lapiz lazuli and marble. Of the three artists participating in the display, Riaz Raffi's work was more painterly, introducing gestural curves against a dramatic background. Clockwise from tip : Riaz Rafi, oil on paper; Painting by Ayessha Quraishi at Indus Gallery; ' Attack on Deepal by Mohammed Bin Qasim' by Aftab Zaffer at Pearl Continental. MARJORIE HUSAIN SHE FEBRUARY 57
