‘Modulated Ambiguities’ by 5 emerging stars opens

Islamabad : An exhibition by five talented contemporary emerging artists— ajjad Nawaz from Bahawalpur, Usman Khalid from Rawalpindi, Muneeb Aqib from Abottabad, Imran Haider from Hafizabad and Abdul Aziz Meer from Chitral—opened on Saturday, at Gallery 6.

Titled ‘Modulated Ambiguities,’ the exhibition features monotone paintings concentrating more on the quality of the composition's light, shadow, gradients and textures, and hence creating images that are more easily remembered for the details and subject rather than colour impressions.

Sajjad Nawaz was initially influenced by his surroundings and indigenous cultural heritage and he painted portraits, forts and palaces that celebrate the culture of Cholistan. But then the Cholistan desert or ‘Rohi’ became his main source of inspiration. His focus became the landscapes depicting shifting sands dunes and panoramic views of cloud formations.

Usman Khalid mostly works with mix media and concentrates on high contrast monotone imagery, in which colour is minimally used. He stated “I prefer drawing to be supreme. The idea of envisioning something in your head and thus giving birth to it, on a piece of paper or fabric, is anything but ordinary.”

Muneeb Aaqib takes inspiration from his environs. Commenting on his artworks, he said “My interest lies in the perception of natural phenomena that occur in my immediate surroundings and my current practice explores the processes of change that occur during travel. Air, wind, water, light and sound are forever shifting with continuous and minute change; my work explores these visible and invisible forces and the transformations they produce on the landscape and the objects in it. I am not only inspired by things that are seen but also by those that are heard and can be touched”

Imran Haider, while describing the process of his works,said, “I have been fascinated with crumbled paper and am currently exploring it for making my artworks. It all starts with very basic reactions to forms and dimensions the crumbled paper takes. A closer and penetrating look shows emergence of a variety of subjects within the paper mass. Then I draw inferences from these perceptions and develop my composition with different mediums on paper.

Abdul Aziz Meer is currently making paintings in abstract impressionism in large sizes that are being much appreciated. He uses his own body as a medium to make impressions on paper and then treats them with the two techniques of miniature painting. He described this excitedly: “I see my work as an extension of my being, and I view myself as a modern day print-maker using my body as a plate and smoke as ink. I etch my body onto paper to make unique large scale monotypes. My work distorts the figures and bends the preconceived notions of our physical selves”

The exhibition, which gives a “feel” of different mediums in monotone paintings, will continue till November 21.