UNFOLDING MATTERS

IN RELATION WITH SPACE

This work through the genealogical and personal examination of Tulamba (my hometown) engages in discussions relating to how we interpret a space within its context and how context itself builds sometimes out of the syntax. Furthermore, it also discusses how the interpretation structures function while we are in the process of Flaneur, thus stressing the importance of other meanings. Although, a personal examination, but I have referred to the works of philosophers such as Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Gayatri Chakravorty, Yi-Fu Tuan and many more. The main aim is to present an idea of walking as a form of creation, or an illusionary space which defines the real space, therefore paving way for new and sometimes opposite interpretations of the same space.

Furthermore, this work majorly discusses these philosophical works under two domains, Memory and Experience of a space (Tulamba) and physical value of space (Tulamba). It‘s also important for me to mention that when I refer to "space" I am concerned with Tulamba.

Converging Point by Amra Ali

‘As and When It Happens’ seems an apt title for a recent show at Karachi’s Art Chowk Gallery. Artworks by Abdullah Qamar, S.M. Raza and Farrukh Adnan gel together in an interconnection due to their use of black and white and in an overall synthesis of process. The progression of work by each artist suggests a strong connection to the act of drawing; of an initial impulse that has been sustained to the end. The final object is in fact a reference to the initial, the primary and the foundation.

Perhaps the significance of this body of work is that there is a meeting point for each artist with the other. Protruding metal forms converse with the two dimensional drawn and stained organic marks in black ink on canvas in Qamar’s work ‘Adam and Eve’ (2013). Apart from the equations within this large work covering an entire wall of the gallery, it acts as a converging point to the circular metal formations by Adnan on an adjacent wall. Adnan’s two relatively small works, metal on board, reiterate the relationship of equations (as also seen in Abdullah’s work), with thin linear rods placed in the formation of a circle against a square board. Interestingly, since both artists’ use of metal has a strong affinity to drawing, the metal recedes to produce an imagined drawing, and an underlying structure for ideas that speak of what Adnan refers to as an ‘invisible reality’.

The perforations in Qamar’s sculpted forms capture the flow of melted larva, evoking equally strong connections to water and land pollution; to that which is bound to overflow, and perhaps, in some way to occupation, to turf and to resistance. The necessity of dialectics that the Artist discusses briefly in his statement opens a space of reconciliation, of embracing dichotomies of time, place and history.

The physicality of the material such as the metal work(s) is placed against an unframed canvas with line and form, creating separation of noncohesive elements. In this process, we confront the non-conformist in Qamar, whose works insist that art be approached as a non commodity; a contradiction where idealism resides.

Adnan’s drawings in metal simultaneously refer to a centre and periphery; to the endlessness of space not bound by a physical time. A similar sensibility marks his pen and ink ‘doodles’ and marks on canvas. The inherent contradiction here is the reference to the intangible, which accommodates the spiritual, yet each mark also frames the moment of making the line as the most significant.

Raza’s work is more bound by the specifics of the social. The stencilled lettering that reads ‘Peace’, ‘Moral Standards’ and ‘Jamhooriyat’ reflect the double standards of a system, where advertising may be used for masking other realities. Peace is used as a word and as an image, with a few broken pieces; jamhooriyat (democracy) forms other words such as rait (sand), also to be read as the Urdu word reet .

The movement of reading from left to right and right to left signifies the present time, the futility of deciphering cultural specificities and dichotomies. For this, the personal has to intervene in the barrage of ideologies historically located in the West, to shed the baggage and unmask the capitalist agendas that continue to frame and dictate the art discourse.

Water

Joseph Colony II

Joseph Colony, Lahore

Dawn Review at "As and when it happens"

3 Person Show at Art Chowk Gallery, Karachi

By Peerzada Salman |    3/10/2013 

12:00:00 AM

KARACHI, March 9: It is quite ironic that sometimes art created with a sense of urgency finds itself in the domain of timelessness. Many believe that it is the immediacy of experience that compels artists to vent their feelings (by drawing, painting of sculpting) without thinking much about their position in the annals of art history. It is quite the opposite of the famous concept of `spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility`. When three young artists show almost the samelevel of energy because of experiential learning it is bound to make the viewer take note.

An exhibition of works by Farrukh Adnan, S.M. Raza and Abdullah Qamer titled `As And When It Happens` commenced at the Art Chowk Gallery on Saturday. The marked feature of the show is the sense of contemporariness, the hallmark of which is a host of unanswered questions creating a labyrinthine existence, which all three artists have shown. Yes, with a sense of immediacy.

Farrukh Adnan tries to capture (read: understand)the tiny events in life that take place round the clock.

They come in the shape ofmoments (ink on canvas) or stretch over days. These moments on surface seem asif they form an innocuous pattern, but they turn into a can of worms. This the artistshows through lines that crisscross, zigzag, break, disappear and reemerge on a regular basis; so much so that they become part of man`s daily routines. The artist has a great deal of creative flair.

S.M. Raza deals with everyday political issues of unrest both on individual and collective levels with special reference to the media. His `Peace` (digital print on paper) and `Story Within A Story` (installation box, acrylic and lights) are statements of his perturbed state of mind. He begins his journey with `White` (ink pen and marker on paper and process prints)which is indicative of the gradual degradation in society.

Abdullah Qamer touches on the age-old theme of `Adam and Eve` (iron and black ink on primed canvas) and draws the attention of the viewer towards the fact that the creation of Adam and Eve is not as black and white as people think it is. There are a lot of grey areas in between.

The exhibition will continue until March 22.