By: Peerzada Salman
KARACHI: In our part of the world, art is not usually seen as a subject that can be readily lumped with philosophy or philosophical concepts. For example, cubism may be defined with certain interpretive textual connotations but it primarily remains a domain of visual art. Therefore those who try and fuse the two by giving plausible explanations need to be commended.
This, however, has certain limitations, especially in the local context, because not a majority of art lovers are prone to construing or ‘feeling’ art when words like structuralism, semiotics or meiosis are attached to it. Having said this, an exhibition of artist Paul-Mehdi Rizvi’s artworks titled ‘Manifesto of Nomadism’ which is under way at the Art Chowk Gallery, despite carrying diverse and somewhat weighty ideas, succeeds in conveying to art buffs the sincerity behind it.
The first few exhibits are called the Demonic White series for which Paul-Mehdi Rizvi has used acrylic, ink and kite-paper on canvas. Since the artist has already given captions for each segment of the exhibition it would be a little difficult to make a comment devoid of uninfluenced notions on his artworks as a reviewer. What stands out is his tremendous craft and skill that complement his ideas well.
For some reason, while the artist’s concepts might sound to a layman a bit of a can of worms, his art comes across as pretty relatable. For example, in the Music for a Noisy Night series Paul-Mehdi impresses with his free-flowing strokes, and his charcoal on canvas effort takes the artworks a notch up in terms of technique. The greyness (or blackness) of the images make the viewer identify with the sounds often created in an environment where musical notes drown out other noises. White Tiger, in that regard, is a special piece, and it may or may not have anything to do with Aravind Adiga’s Booker prize winning novel.
The exhibits titled ‘Black RNA’ and ‘Red RNA’ (mixed media, graphite pencil, gemstones on watercolour paper) highlight the artist’s fascination with the process of meiosis, which basically relates to life.
The exhibition will be open till Nov 30.
