Amin Gulgee has been exploring the world through his sculptures for about two decades and communicated with people by means of his sculptures and installations. The mystic and spiritual tone of his artworks made him more near to his roots.
His recent calligraphic sculptures in copper titled "7" (seven) at Amin Gulgee Gallery, Karachi also followed his spiritual theme. It was a preview exhibition of the artworks by the artist presented by Sameera Raja and Amin Gulgee. This show will be travelling to Galleris d'Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy.
The calligraphic sculptures in metal have an aura of mystique around them. They were based on fifth verse of Sura al-Alaq which told that God "taught man which he did not know". This calligraphic text recurred in his copper sculpture formations that tested the possibilities of understanding the form and elements as well as the word's message.
Elaborating about his artworks Amin Gulgee said, "The show is called 7. It's a sentence that I have divided into seven sections. It's repeated throughout the exhibition. Now you can no longer read any of the text. So it becomes, sort of, my private messages and private love letters. There is also a performance element to the display in which I've asked people to write a message to anybody they love and put in a bottle placed by the gallery wall. It's all private and will be destroyed after the show.
"Then there is the video, an algorithm, where the letters appear randomly on the screen. Each time a letter falls, it is associated with one musical note [sa re ga ma pa dha ni]."
Amin has always tried to experience and explore life's philosophy that is garnished with culture, inheritance and mystic values. Through a long creative journey Amin had and still have to discover and rediscover these assets.
Intricately designed copper calligraphic sculptures behave differently from different angles. The light through the gaps between the words of sculptures reflected in a unique manner on a plain surface that produced a beautiful quaint impact of the words.
The tall vertical screens which Amin Gulgee refered to as 'scrolls' presented a play of light and shadow that created visibility and invisibility of form and space thus producing distinct images for viewers to understand.
His powerful perception resulted in impressive forms and structures. Hence his observation and its interpretation in his created works brought knowledge and questions for the viewers. Amin Gulgee incessantly continues his creative journey thus finding the answers to his questions.