Feelings, Colours and ‘A Ray of Hope’ by Renowned Artist Nahid Raza

EMINENT ARTIST NAHID RAZA EXHIBITS HER NEW PAINTINGS AT CANVAS GALLERY ON TUESDAY , APRIL 16TH 2013, FROM 5 PM – 8 PM.

CURRENT PRINCIPAL OF THE CIAC KARACHI , NAHID HAS BEEN WORKING AS AN ART ACADEMIC AND ARTIST FOR THE PAST 30 YEARS.

THE SHOW CONTINUES DAILY UNTIL APRIL 25TH 2013 , FROM 11 AM – 8 PM ( EXCLUDING SUNDAY )

An exhibition based on feelings by renowned artist Nahid Raza was inaugurated at Canvas Gallery on Tuesday.
A large number of people, including art critics and enthusiasts, celebrities and other prominent personalities were present on the occasion.
As many as 25 paintings of the artist were on display, all were colourful and dragging people’s attention. The medium of the artist was acrylic with mixed media on canvas.
One of her paintings titled ‘Alone’ was about the face of a lady, which was painted with dark brown colour on a golden background.
The painting was decorated with tiny pearls. The aforementioned painting was depicting the lonely feelings of the lady, of moments when a person feels alone even if surrounded by a crowd.
Another painting ‘Saving’ was about coins, placed in two circles, forming a semi-helix. The coins were of five and two rupees. The background of the art piece was gold. The painting was expressing the saving habits of people. How people save money in order to get rich or perhaps it depicted the similarity between adults and children both of whom display a fascination with coins.
Depicting a similar theme, ‘Rain’ was decorated with coins. The painting was expressing the lust for money, how people demand for more and more. The painting was also mentioning the unlimited wants of people, and how materialism
is constantly on the rise.
The painting ‘Rose’ was of a lady with a rose in her hand. Her face was peeping through her long tresses as if the woman was brooding and dreaming of times ahead and of beauty and nature. The painter has used dark colours in this painting that rightly express the meaning or theme beyond the mere image.
Decorated with tiny black beads was another painting, ‘A Ray of Hope’, with a lighted or bright corner on one side. The painter perhaps is presenting the bleakness within our society through the black colour; however, she also included a ray of hope expressing that these dark shades will be removed soon.
‘Island of My feelings’ used a thin veneer of tiny beads, composed as a river, an amalgam of feelings and desires in monochrome.
Talking to Daily Times, Raza said that her present work is based on feelings. In her abstract composition, she used texture to give effects of different kinds of feelings; serenity to the hidden feelings that rarely get expressed.
“I use women as a symbol of loneliness, and one can feel loneliness through textures and colours. The coins I used in my paintings are a symbolic representation of wealth. Rain and the different colours are a symbol of hope,” the artist said.
To portray the atmosphere in Pakistan, I used darker tones, because everybody is worried, but there is always a ray of hope, giving strength to them. The exhibition will continue until April 25.

(DailyTimes)

An exhibition of renowned artist Nahid Raza’s latest body of work opened at the Canvas Art Gallery on Tuesday evening.

Nahid Raza has proven credentials as one of Pakistan’s leading woman artists. Her exploration of female condition, sometimes dubbed feminism, and her figurative paintings have been discussed and admired to death. Recently her foray into the spiritual side to existence, too, earned her a great deal of adulation. And just when one begins to think that Ms Raza has been there, has done it all, she comes up with something that compels art lovers to trace her career trajectory. There’s definite an evolution.

The current exhibition has a strong personal resonance. Add to this the artist’s penchant to tell stories pertaining to women’s woes, and the viewer gets a clear sense of how far she has pushed the boundaries in her creative pursuit. The first artwork on display indicates what’s to come. It’s called ‘Alone’, a personal statement that can be seen from an impersonal perspective as well. The blackness around the image at the bottom of the mixed media on canvas work speaks of the placement of that image in the exhibit, hence in society.

The theme continues with ‘Symbol of Loneliness’ as the same darkness surrounds the protagonist. There is a sudden shift with ‘Three Stories’; three faces are seen together, breaking the monotony of the single face. Here the collective conscience for which the artist is known comes to the fore, not for long though because it is with ‘Waiting’ that Ms Raza’s creative prowess dazzles the viewer. Again, the image of the woman is at the bottom, but what makes this piece a special one is the solid yellow lines at the top indicating the limits that the character in the painting can go to. It’s not so much the content that impresses instead it’s the overall aesthetic appeal of the artwork which slowly intellectualizes the issue, which is quite startling.

Then there is an exhibit titled ‘Face to Face’ where Ms Raza resorts to geometric shapes hinting at her past efforts. However, it’s not detached from the thematic composition of the rest of the paintings. The exhibition will be open till April 25.

(Dawn)

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