She has many national and international solo and group shows to her credit....
art
Hajra Mansoor
Graduated from the Government College of Art and Craft, Luck now in 1964, Hajra Mansoor is an accomplished and renowned artist of Pakistan. She migrated to Karachi from Lucknow and established Karachi School of Art which produced many talented artists over the years.
Mansoor has a strong command over wash technique inspired by the traditional school of Mughal Miniature art. She paints the traditional women, embellish them with jewels and sometimes surround them with pigeons, a symbol of peace, beauty and freedom as well as peacocks which are a symbol of beauty and elegance. Mansoor’s art pieces are a treat to the eyes. She has many national and international solo and group shows to her credit.
Qudsia Nisar
Qudsia Nisar is one of Pakistan’s renowned abstract expressionist painters whose works are greatly emphasised over the theme of peace. Her prowess abstract paintings are personal dialogues which she shares with her audience and challenge them to contemplate at the same time gives them a window to experience the violence and ambiguity the people of the country faced in her times.
She holds the credit of introducing non-figurative watercolour painting in the neighbouring country China which was highly appreciated and brought her more recognition. She served as a principal at the Central Institute and also as the head of fine arts department at the Bahawalpur University. She has many awards to her credit.
Naiza khan
Graduated from the Ruskin School of Art in 1999, Naiza Khan is a Pakistani artist who is based between Karachi and London. She uses her art as a medium to share her experiences and observations of gender and political manifestations which she expresses through her sculptures, photography, printmaking and painting. She has widely exhibited her work internationally and in Pakistan as well. She was the first Pakistani artist to represent Pakistan at the 58th Venice Biennale.
Bani Abidi is an ambitious Pakistani artist. Her practice revolves around the topics of cities, politics, culture, gentrification, religion and social issues which she visually caters through the medium of video, photography and drawings. Studied Visual arts from NCA and from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she is one of the top contemporary artists in the list.
Her humorous way of stirring these grave topics makes her art stand out.
She brushes away the class and standard difference created by human and draws inspiration from everyday lives of the cities where she has resided over the years like Karachi, Quetta, Lahore and Berlin.
The medium that she often chooses to convey her ideas and concern is film which became a reason of her success and brought her recognition in international festivals and exhibitions.
She started videography and photography when only a handful of female artists started opting this medium which gave her a privilege to be heard clearly and make her mark as an artist.
Adeela Suleman
Based in Karachi, Adeela Suleman is a famous artist, and art educator. Having studied sculpture from Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, she comments on the social and political issue through her sculptures made out of everyday objects. Feminine issues have been a running topic in her art. She produces sculptures on this specific theme by kitchen utensils and invites a viewer to focus on the suppression and difficulties a female faces living in a patriarchal society. She is actively involved in art activities to transform the city such as ‘Reimaging the walls of Karachi’ to give Karachi a positive and creative outlook. Adeela Suleman is a founding member of Vasl Artists' Association and serves as the current Director of the company.
Currently living and working in New York, Shazia Sikander is a famous artist around the world for her extraordinary prowess and miniature techniques.
Studied from NCA in 1991, she became the first miniature artist who challenged the strict and formal outlines and aesthetics in the genre and infused and experimented with installations, drawings, videos etc.
The honour of being the first female miniature teacher at NCA also goes to her credit. Her thesis project, The scroll (1989-90), received international appreciation and acclaim in Pakistan.
She was lauded for her miniature paintings and launching the medium at NCA after which the institute has produced many students who experiment in the miniature medium. In the mid-90s her work became her recognition and gave her name a dramatic rise as an artist.
Hailing from Faisalabad and an NCA graduate, Aisha Khalid is the trendsetter of transforming the traditional miniature style into a contemporary style by bringing it from small papers to huge murals, paintings and installations. She is called the ‘neo-miniaturist’ of Pakistan, belonging to the group of artists who were inspired by neo-miniature techniques.
She draws inspiration from the traditional feminine craft and her focus also remains in incorporating and combining geometric Islamic patterns with floral motifs on the textile. She has debated over gender inequality, political and social issues, suppression of women and the aftereffects of 9/11 which are her personal observations and uses them in her art to further explore these contentious issues. She has held many solo shows internationally, being awarded ‘Birgit Skiold Memorial Trust Award of Excellence’ at the London Artists Book Fair; she was named as one of the “100 most powerful women in Pakistan in Newsweek magazine.”
To be continued…
