This is the world of the unknown with a strange and mystifying dimension that exist beyond the concept of space and time, and is a different reality altogether. However four young artists come together at IVS Gallery, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture to show their concerns about the world we are living in, its realities and its meaning of existence.
Each of the artist has his/her objectives and purposes and are journeying their separate ways, but they are observing the human nature whose laws and existence may have nothing to do with the ordinary realm of things as it is the person inside the body that is the matter of concern. The artists painted their thoughts, secrets or forbidden statements that they cannot express verbally and unburden themselves in a very imaginative way.
S.M. Raza of University of Karachi, visual studies department narrates the theory of love "Relation and Elation", feelings of joy and happiness, sad and tragic through his works. He tried to cover different aspects of the life and emotions. He is fond of symmetry and repetition as he finds predictability to be soothing. He tends to gravitate towards drawing images that are comforting like painting national flag by using bullets, soldier caps and hand grenades containing more repugnant images, or sometimes vice versa. He aspires to use this contrast in his work to represent the polarities that people have within themselves.
Sophia Mairaj also from University of Karachi, visual studies department takes a journey with Adam and Eve through a series of mixed-medium drawings and collages. She has chosen the story of Adam and Eve, their being thrown out of the Garden of Eden. What happens afterwards? What happens when the spell is broken?
Sophia's lines are spontaneous, pulsating, un-interruptive and full of energy. She deals with the concept of humanity existence the intangible to which she is trying to give a shape. Salman Hassan of Karachi School of Art tried to focus on the strength of small things when they unite for a single purpose. He gives example of a single ant seems vulnerable and insignificant but an army of them can cause fear. He also focuses on the other aspect of unity as when we pray alone it might have a lesser effect but together we can have a stronger impact. The black and white in his paintings represents the duality humanity has fallen into; good and evil. He believes that people are currently distant and compartmentalised and until they merge and emerge onto a higher plane, humanity as a whole will not evolve. And red shows the hope that everybody has for the future. Constant repetition of knowledge and action guided him to make the images the same way. The repetition of linear drawings which create a shaky image portrays how the repetition of action can disturb the world.
Sammer Sultan of Indus Valley School wants to address the contradictions faced by common people every day. His work deals with the choices made by the people or are forced to make in various situations. He is using a juxtaposition of radically different ideas, the result of which may or may not be absurd. His compositions make statements on the people lost in a degenerate world, where individuals become subjects of an ideology, system or society that tends to enslave them.
The multiple images and details that each artwork contains allow every viewer to connect with whatever speaks most to them. With acquisition of knowledge the youngsters can contribute a lot towards the progress and development of the country and resolution of its problems.
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