Four talented artists, Ahmer Farooq, Saad Ahmed, Usman Ahmed and Zahrah Ehsan, who have brought a certain understanding of contemporary art to Pakistan, displayed a total of 14 paintings, in various sizes, at Alhamra on September 11, 2014. It was organised by the Paint Bucket Gallery.

The exhibition titled, ‘Resolving the two rights’, was an attempt to absorb an image of the opposite gender, a debate on our surroundings and factors that carve out our inner feelings. These inspirations brought about an experimental work on display in mixed medium, aquatint on paper, charcoal, oil and acrylic on canvas.

Saad Ahmed’s work depicted a transitional journey with a strong emphasis on the role of woman in various spheres of life. There was a series of portraits depicting women as the source of life, from being a mother, wife, sister, and an enigma.

Ahmer Farooq’s colourful collage was titled ‘Adam, Eve and Inbetween’. "For me, there are no lines and divisions between two genders and my work is in different shades of colours and forms, all working together to shape a bigger picture," he says, adding, "The focal point is not to categorise or ostracise people by their gender".

Hoping to inspire people to think about the concept of the opposite gender, Zahrah Ehsan demonstrated the behaviour pattern of men and women towards each other. "My paintings are not only commenting on the psychological constructs placed on individuals by society, but also embraces the idea by using vibrant colours to lure viewers like how they would do in reality," she explains.

Usman Ahmed deserves a special mention for the colour obsession and experimental methods applied in his highly acknowledged work. "All of my three paintings revolve around the feminine gender. I have tried to depict emotions and show all sides of personal traits. I have worked with a series of ideas, abstracts and explosion of colours, mediums and techniques, as there’s so much to explore in this world of ours," he says.

His painting ‘Damsel in distress’ depicts a woman in visible pain. "Sometimes we need to be rescued because we have damaged ourselves. I have put a golden lining on that painting to show that there is hope even in so much chaos, if we go out and look for it," he says.

Diversity displayed in the show made it interesting.

The Paint Bucket Gallery is one of its kind, online art gallery in Pakistan. It thrives on the promotion of art through its active website and display of work of fresh talent across the country.

Sehr Latif, the brainchild behind The Paint Bucket Gallery, says, "There are many advantages of a virtual art Gallery and being viral allows people to have an access to the work without having to be physically present at the exhibition space. We are still new to the concept of virtual galleries, whereas the world has been holding online exhibitions, auctions and art fairs for quite a few years now and has been successfully promoting art globally. The Paint Bucket hopes to follow in this direction as we have a thriving art scene."