ART FACTS: Unusual ambiance

While visiting a group exhibition at Fine Art Pakistan Gallery, Karachi I meet Maqbool Ahmed, his paintings are also part of the group show. During conversation he invited me to his studios. On visiting his studios he shows me his paintings and talk about his art journey.
Born in Quetta in 1958, Maqbool was fond of playing football but his father want him to be a doctor. One day his uncle who was a doctor by profession and also do drawings as a hobby came to his home and show him a drawing which he want to enlarge by using a graph.
Maqbool said it is not difficult I can do it, the uncle replied no it is much difficult than you think. Afterwards Maqbool enlarged the drawing during the following night on the graph and when his uncle came the other day he showed the drawing. The uncle got impressed and asked if he often does drawings Maqbool showed him his drawings then his uncle advised him to use special pencils and paper for the drawings.
After that Maqbool got interested in drawing and find his real interest in Art. A few days later he meets Ustad Aslam, he was a signboard painter and start learning painting from him. After a while he came to Karachi to take admission in an Art school but could not make up his mind and return Quetta.
He discusses the issue with his uncle and he advised him to join National College of Arts, Lahore. In 1978 he finally joins NCA. He got admission there on quota basis and on his arrival at NCA he found that he was the first student in ten years that came from Quetta to NCA.
At NCA his foundation in Art was laid by Saleema Hashmi. Other teachers who guided him include Khalid Iqbal, Colin David and Saeed Akhtar. After graduating in 1982 from NCA he stayed in Lahore till 1988 and did landscape paintings and therefore got attached to Khalid Iqbal for his guidance. After 1988 he left Lahore for Karachi. Here he join a magazine as an Art Editor and remain at the post for a long time.
During the period he continued his work. A Singapore Museum selected his paintings for the exhibit there. An American Gallery offered him for exhibition but he could not avail the opportunity due to financial problems.
His work has a universal appeal and does not belong to a particular place. One of the main features of his painting is it is liked by art lovers of every region. Maqbool Ahmed's paintings portray transparent figures merging and emerging in unusual ambiances creating a peculiar atmosphere in a simple manner.
He has acquired a diverse mode of painting to distinguish himself among his contemporaries. His powerful brush strokes paints layers after layers creating reflections and images of images. He creates a vague ambiance through reflections as well as refractions of his subjects. An aura of mystery is formed by the reflections within reflections and the object and subject diffuse in those various reflections making it impossible to identify the real images.
His work is conceptual in which he portrays social issues regarding women. The women figures in his paintings seem to convey complex realities of life. He combines figurative, cubism and surrealistic work in a single painting and the outcome is brilliant. The women in his paintings are connected with each other in an unseen thread, a deep feeling which only they share.
He uses symbols such as locks and chains, windows, bells, shadows and reflections, mirrors, cubes and prism to enhance his point of view. Soft and enlightened female images unveil emotional and intellectual dilemmas of women. Key is use as a symbol which unlocks women's dreams and desires. But many a times she can only see these feelings in a mirror portraying an untouchable or unlivable dreams and desires.
The cubes and prisms support his complex theme. The windows and bells in his paintings are symbolically representing the inner feelings of a person. Some of his paintings reveal complicated ambiance that's why he use symbols thus enabling people to understand his difficult subject.
He enhances his paintings through brilliant use of colours. He uses light and prism to transforms his paintings transparent and use rainbow colours that gives the paintings a unique appearance. He apply vivacious colours in his own way the pleasing hues of blue, green, red, yellow and ochre are well balanced with the darkness of black and brightness of white. Each painting has a detail composition harmonious to the reflections and refractions of his thoughts.
Going through his artworks I sense that Maqbool Ahmed's work shows an entirely unique and distinct style other than his teachers. And in my opinion he is basically a landscape painter and now he should again concentrate on landscape painting so that art lovers could also enjoy this genre of painting by him.
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