paintings exhibition by Ashkal`s at Ashkal`s Fine Art gallery
exhibition of contemporary paintings by Ashkal`s at Ashkal`s Fine Art gallery
KARACHI: An exhibition of contemporary paintings by Ashkal`s opened at Ashkal`s Fine Art gallery on Wednesday.
The show titled `Buzkashi` will remain open till Dec 30, daily from 2pm to 8pm.
Ashkal, more known in the UK and Paris for his restoration work, is an enterprising artist ready to experiment with his ability and opportunities. It is admirable that he has owned an art gallery at a young age through his hard efforts. The narcissus has named his gallery after his own name. Courageously he has been painting for more than twenty years experimenting with stylistic realistic images. He has been tirelessly painting figurative realistic, figurative distortion, miniature and calligraphy. He basically belongs to the Eqbal Mehdi School of Art. His early realistic renditions were in his mentor’s footsteps. He suffered as an artist and wanted to come out of his mentor’s garb. As a result at one show at his own art gallery he displayed distorted figurative works. They were more in line with those of Mashkoor with a spice of Sadequain.
The suffering continues with Ashkal. His current exhibition is focused on women of Thur desert. By picking of this subject for his current show, he has put himself in a challenging position. He has to face a wall of artists in front who have been painting this subject throughout their career and are now established. Women of Thur are a popular subject with artists of Pakistan. The late Lal Mohammad Pathan who belonged to the soil painted life in Thur, which revolves around women in his individual style with great joy. Ahmed Zoay from Lahore tackled the subject in the linage of Jimini Roy with thick paints and symbols which made the viewer think and comprehend the meaning behind. Ather Jamal portrayed the Thur women mostly seated on ground in the delicate medium of watercolour. Moazzam Ali is another established name in painting women of Thur. Ali Abbas from Hyderabad handles Thur life realistically using techniques which make the scenario surreal. An artist from Hyderabad, Babar Ali, showcased his works on the same subject recently at Ejaz Galleries Lahore. Now Ashkal has also picked up the same object to show his expertise.
Ashkal has painted women of Thur as a visual experience only. The central object is decorated with jewellery, thick plastic bangles up to shoulder, and a clay water pitcher as an arm-rest. His colourful palette and motifs on the dresses belong to the soil. Women on his canvases are sitting in the style of his early works when he painted stylized urban women. It looks as if the same women have gotten into the attire of Thur women for a stage play. It looks that he will experience more suffering after this show.
