A mystical approach to socio-political change and modernisation

The Sanat Initiative is hosting an art exhibition featuring works by Ghulam Hussain (Guddu). Titled ‘Dialogues with the Last Dialogue’, the show will run at the gallery until February 23.

According to the catalogue released by the gallery for the exhibition, Hussain graduated in 2010 as a miniature artist from the National College of Arts in Lahore, and his art practice is based on weaving, a local craft technique that is practised in his home town Hyderabad.

“The exploration of ideas is simple in its appeal, yet complex enough to engage the viewer in its aesthetical politics. May it be the use of geometrical shapes, lines or spaces, my passion for craft and its understanding continues and inspires me to explore,” says the artist.

“The fragility of the paper raises a lot of questions for the viewer, yet the weave satisfies them. The layer of paper and paint interrogates the texture of surfaces to find new directions and ways in the genre of abstraction and mark-making.”

He says his recent body of work is about the history of religious events, symbols, text and mystical approach to the power of presence and socio-political change and modernisation. Hussain is a contemporary visual artist from Hyderabad, home to the world’s oldest civilisation, the Indus Valley Civilisation. He is a trained miniaturist who works with high and low craft art to represent the beauty within stark contrasts of what is considered as high and low.

His work is distinct due to its technique and simplicity, opening up a range of possibilities both for the artist and its viewers. Going back to his roots in Sindh, he is challenging the notion of high craft by integrating forms of low craft, such as weaving and brick building with the miniature style of painting.

His work has been exhibited and recognised both nationally and internationally: at the Devi Art Foundation Museum, New Delhi, the Fifth Beijing International Art Biennial in the National Art Museum, China, and the embassies of the Netherlands and Pakistan among others. His repeated visits to New York connected him to the works of Piet Mondrian, and he came up with his flourishing body of work titled ‘Woven Narratives: Dialogue with Piet Mondrian’ in 2015. His work is based on geometric patterns and overlapping techniques through weaving, giving a unique impression in the form of art.

‘non(object)’

The Koel Gallery is hosting an art exhibition featuring works by Affan Baghpati. Titled ‘non(object)’, the show will run at the gallery until March 1.

According to the catalogue released by the gallery for the exhibition, visual art and art education are Baghpati’s trajectories of practices. He completed his undergraduate studies in fine arts at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in 2015. He graduated in art and design studies from the Mariam Dawood School of Visual Art and Design, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, in 2018.

His works have been showcased at AAN Gandhara, Canvas Gallery and Sanat Initiative in Karachi; Rohtas 2 Gallery, Taseer Art Gallery, Faqeer Khana Museum and The Colony in Lahore; Satrang Gallery and 12.0 Contemporary in Islamabad; Museo Diocesano Carlo Maria Martini in partnership with Sotheby’s in Milan; Aicon Contemporary in New York; Twelve Gates Arts in Philadelphia; and 1x1 Art Gallery in Dubai.

His works were also part of the Sindh Art Festival 2014 in Karachi, the Karachi Biennale 2017, the Karachi Biennale 2019, the Lahore Biennale 2018, the Lahore Biennale 2020, the Beirut Art Fair 2019, the India Art Fair 2020, the India Art Fair 2022, the India Art Fair 2023 and the Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2022.

He received a 100 per cent Merit-based Scholarship Award from the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Institute for South Asia Regional Cooperation during 2016-2018. He is also the recipient of the first cycle of the Artist Residency in Museum in Karachi hosted by the State Bank of Pakistan, Museum and Art Gallery in 2020.

The ADA (Art Design Architecture) Awards awarded him in the category of sculpture in 2021. Nigaah Art also awarded him in the category of 3D sculpture work in 2023. He is currently the assistant professor at the Indus Valley School.