The opening of Muhammad Ali’s works was held at the gallery on Thursday. Sameera Raja curated the show.
Ali is a young, emerging artist and has taken to art to outline and comment on the injustices prevalent in society. Women play a major role in his works as he describes himself as a feminist. An artwork titled ‘Fruit Chaat’ was quite vocal on women’s issues. Famous Pakistani artiste Noor Jehan, clad in a pink saree, was lying among a variety of fruits. Ali explained the background of his inspiration.
“You know how people love to forward jokes on women,” he said. “Once, I received a forwarded text from a friend that said that women were like fruits. Each has her own flavour. But men like to have fruit chaat. This terrible objectification of women is what I have tried to depict in this painting. It’s not about Noor Jehan. It’s about how we see her or any other woman.”
‘No Place like Home’ uses the motif of a woman figure while engaging in a contrast of rain and dryness. A woman sits in a red sofa with a cloud pouring raindrops on her. She is drenched in rainwater as the cloud hovers over her while her surroundings remain dry. The play of the white, black and red colours created an amazing tension in the work which was then intensified with the expression on the woman’s face.
Former information minister Sherry Rehman was so impressed by this artwork that she bought it right away. “Ali has come up very swiftly as an artist,” she said while speaking to The Express Tribune. “It is witty, provocative and it speaks out to me. I only buy art that speaks. I have stopped buying works of senior artists. We need to encourage the young.”
Besides women, another important motif in Ali’s works is militancy and politics. ‘Apparition’ shows an image of former military dictator Gen Ziaul Haque. Ali said that Zia was one person that he ‘hates’ because, he feels, it is because of him that Shias are targeted. “If I could eliminate one person from the history of Pakistan, it would be him,” he claimed.He went on to explain how he drew the image with thick plasters of paint and then he started erasing the layers. The erasing was possibly a measure to vent out his anger against the dictator. Interestingly, Zia appeared to be lifting a veil to display his face. “I gave it back to him,” said Ali. “Zia gave the veil to our women and I just gave it back to him.”
Talking about his works, sculptor Arshad Faruqui said that he really liked Ali’s works. “It’s interesting how he goes beyond the obvious in portraying a person.”
Raja also spoke high of the works. “He paints beautifully,” she said. “It is amazing how he paints emotions and deals with his personal issues. It makes you think.”
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