Realistic artistry

art

Realism emerged from France and dates back to 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to denounce romanticism and emotionalism which highly dominated French literature and the arts and it was also to unveil the truth and reality of general people’s life and other subjects which were unnoticed and weren’t a part of the arts for eons. It was actually to pull down the exaggeration and set forth the reality.

Where today there are scarcely any artists who pursue their career in realism, Syed Muhammad Fawad is one of those realistic painters who religiously practice realism. His paintings speak about his deep knowledge about the subject, years of unrelenting practice, study of his own culture and keen observation of his surroundings.

In an exhibition titled ‘Realistic artistry’ at ArtCiti gallery, Karachi, Fawad presented a beguiled set of realistic paintings. His canvases mostly preserved the colonial era or British Raj architecture which seems to deteriorate with passing time. He does not only paint buildings to fill his canvases but brought an important issue to heed, at the same time shows his love for the mesmerizing architecture was worth watching. One could observe spacious balconies, beautiful double leaf wooden windows, leaves, staircase, and small windows. Many of the windows were embellished with colorful mirrors and a few were shown completely wooden in the highly polluted areas of Karachi; Saddar, KPT, Manora, Light House,Aram Bagh, Pan Mandi and Urdu Bazaar, yet silently standing courageously seeking help and attention.

His understanding of colours and composition to give the images photographic look was quite interesting. While highlighting the beauty of the colonial architecture, he hinted towards the lack of attention towards the building by painting the brick a little dull as the pollution of the city damaged the buildings’ beauty and changed its colour.

His re-imagination wrapped his realistic work around contemporary flavours. He did not produce idealized or exaggerated situations but depicted the truth. A realistic artist requires masterly techniques and command over his work to make the realistic paintings look photographic and S M Fawad brilliantly deceived the eyes of a viewer and set the mind boggling at the spectacle.

The paintings did not portray fantastical or imaginary world, fancy colours, unnecessary embellishments or elements that distract one from the subject. The images reflected transparency and truth. A huge 37x63 sized intriguing painting was an exterior of a building in Urdu Bazar in an afternoon. Comprising more than 10 balconies and dexterous strokes, the painting grabbed everyone’s attention. The compositions, subtle colours and earthy tones turned the image so realistic that one would wonder if it’s photography or an oil painting. The light that filtered through the wooden balconies creating a shadow was such a detailed thought process of the artist to notice. It seemed that the artist has added layers of tales in the image with his colours and compositions. His work questioned human vision and ability to differ the painting from reality.

In another oil painting he created such an impression of hyperrealism which he titled ‘Mercedes Car Karachi’. He painted an old model of Mercedes in soft colour parked somewhere on the road. Fawad invited a viewer to observe the details of the subject as he painted the car’s frontal close up. Similarly another painting titled ‘Karachi’ is nostalgic since he painted a bicycle parked on a pavement that carried a jar of biscuits and a kettle of hot tea. Fawad brought back the memories of old days when a tea man would deliver tea with biscuits to people. He intended to capture the feelings of small and nameless moments of the past as such moments are hard to exist today so he celebrated the past memories.

In a few of Fawad’s paintings, one would observe that there are minor places where artist deliberately did not give a photographic treatment such as in a painting titled ‘Seaview’ the bicycle’s overall creation didn’t have an impact of realism or hyperrealism. It entailed a complex focus and a necessary distraction for an observer.

One would explore the colours, textures and surfaces more intricate as one examines the images closely. Fawad doesn’t rely on complete realism principals yet keeps an artistic treatment to his oeuvre which brings in a different experience for viewers and admirers.

The inbuilt jolts are of more interest as one eyes travel through the canvas, one would observe minute details and depths in the paintings. The artist believed that as time passes these buildings will be over shadowed by the high-rise buildings but his unconditional love for the artifacts will remain same and he will continue to preserve the beauty of this colonial architecture with his immense talent and skills.