What Is A Good Painting?
Curated by Emaan Mahmud, this new group show exhibited at ArtChowk Gallery showcases works by about a dozen artists namely Amber Arifeen, Asad Kamran, Faizan Riedinger, Haider Ali, Khadija S Akhtar, Marium M Habib, Marium Kamal, Maryam Arslan, Maryam Hina Hasnain, Rabia S Akhtar and Rabia Ali.
Aimed to instigate the discussion on what deems art as good, this show takes a fun jab at the most important discourse in the art world. “Since the first gallery and museums were created, humans have wondered “What is a good painting?” What makes a painting good? Is it a canvas that shows skill, proper use of colours and originality? Or is it a canvas that has splatters of paint made by an experienced splasher? Or Is the painting good because it has a good return on investment, is trendy and looks good on Instagram?” Everyone has a different take on what a good painting can be, from artists to curators to collectors, and especially the viewers that come outside of the art world and bring fresh opinions untethered by the bias that one inoculates when spending too much time around artists. All in contemporary fun and thought-provoking conversations, the exhibition continues till 10th February 2022 at ArtChowk gallery!
The Garden of Love and Otherness
Afshar Malik’s solo show, ‘The Garden of Love and Otherness’, curated by Quddus Mirza, opened at Canvas Gallery on Tuesday, 1 February 2022.
Presenting an exhibition that houses a prime selection of his recent body of works, it delves into the artist’s classic style of surrealist imagery, nowhere near realism but still carrying some semblance of reality – A representation of his aesthetics that is not limited to a boundary, except the realm of imagination, intuition and invention. His art is often laden with humour and innuendoes that urge to be discovered and relished in. The work, often executed in acrylic and mixed media, the content of which is often poetic and emotional without being pleading, is what draws viewers in and excites them as they tread through every detail that was curated through fine meticulous concepts and techniques. His characters, which include men and women, trees, fruits, animals, water, cloud, camera and other familiar stuff, frequent from one work to another. Yet appear unseen, unexpected and exciting – and excited in each new composition.
Notes from a Familiar Place
Opened on the 3rd of February at AAN Art Space & Museum, Notes from a Familiar Place is An exhibition in conversation with Fazal Rizvi showing works by Bushra Anis, Filza Baloch, Manahil Khurram, Samra Mansoor and Zahabia Khozema.
This exhibition with these five young artists attempts to register and document their associations and negotiations with space and place. Places that they inhabit, places that they walk and travel through, places that they investigate, excavate and dig into, places that they look at tenderly and care for, places that are up-close and intimate, and others that are distant, places from their memory and places in their imaginary, places of pain and also that of healing. The show houses many works that find their origins in the first year of the pandemic made by five up-and-coming artists taught by Fazal Rizvi and Asma Mundrawala. The exhibition remains open till 5th March.
INDUS MUSE
An exclusive exhibition of paintings by Artist and Watercolour maestro Moazzam Ali, Indus Muse opened at Art Citi Gallery on 7th February.
His exhibition showcases one of his dominant skills within the realms of watercolours, delving into a plethora of free-flowing vibrant colours all whilst displaying an avid inclination towards the classic impasto strokes often seen in acrylic works. The artist seamlessly manages to collide worlds into his work, where the intricate control needed over a medium as difficult as watercolour remains evident, but an urge to break conventionality is vibrantly visible where enhanced brush strokes can be quite distinctly seen. Moazzam Ali’s skill in representing such a feeling for his audiences remains unparalleled, brought to perfection by decades of experience and skill. His work has been featured in many solo exhibitions and he has participated in countless group shows. Moazzam Ali has studios in Karachi, New York, and Canada.
