Asif Farrukhi at Poppy Seed
February is Art and Literature Month at Poppy Seed
The first talk of the Art and Literature series will be held on Feb 12th, at 5:30pm sharp.
Asif Farrukhi will speak about how art and artists have been portrayed in Urdu Literature.
About the speaker: Asif Farrukhi is a renowned short story writer and critic and contributes regularly to the English language press. He is also the editor of Dunyazad, a literary journal of new writing and contemporary issues. He was awarded the Prime Minister’s Literary Award by the Pakistan Academy of Letters in 1997 and more recently the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz.
The talk is free and open to the public but does require participants to pre-register by Wednesday, February 8th, 2010. Artists, writers and students are encouraged to attend.
Participants may register over the telephone or via email:
Ph: 021.3569.3808.
Email: poppyseed.gallery@gmail.com
“Revisiting…” (Feb 4th – 24th)
Three Art Educators revisit their artistic practice and re-evaluate their concerns as artists and educators in “Revisiting…” Adnan Lotia revisits what a good drawing is supposed to be in the light of his experience as a high school art educator. Sohail Abdullah revisits the equation between a photographic image and the memory of a moment. Zairah Maher revisits her understanding of the female body and psyche.
(click on each image for a larger view)
Adnan Lotia. Schah. Pencil on Canvas board. 24″ x 24″. red dot
Adnan Lotia. Shakir. Pencil on Canvas board. 24″ x 24″.
Adnan Lotia. Dadi. Pencil on Canvas board. 24″ x 24″. red dot
Adnan Lotia. Mikail. Pencil on Canvas board. 24″ x 24″.
Adnan Lotia. MM. Pencil on Canvas board. 24″ x 24″. red dot
Zairah Maher. Yummy Mummy series. Dimensions variable. Silk, Khaddar, Chiffon, Velvet, Silk Thread, Black pigment and Canvas.
Zairah Maher. Untitled (full view). Silk thread on Muslin.
Zairah Maher. Untitled (detail I). Silk thread on Muslin. 8″ x 8″.
Zairah Maher. Untitled (detail II). Silk thread on Muslin. 8″ x 8″.
Zairah Maher. Untitled (detail III). Silk thread on Muslin. 8″ x 8″.
Zairah Maher. Untitled (detail IV). Silk thread on Muslin. 8″ x 8″.
Zairah Maher. Untitled (detail V). Silk thread on Muslin. 8″ x 8″.
Sohail Abdullah. Nightlife Bombay ‘07. Black and White Photographic Print, Kentmere Kenthene Fine Lusture M.Wt. 2. 22.4″ x 15.8″.
Sohail Abdullah. Infra-red Ficus. Black and White Photographic Print, Kentmere Kenthene Fine Lusture M.Wt. 2. 22.4″ x 15.8″.
Sohail Abdullah. Little Clothes, 1984 (III). Sepia toned Photogram on black and white photographic paper. 15″ x 33″.
Sohail Abdullah. Home Wall, Bhagtapur, ‘07. Tannin toned Cyanotype on 300 gm Canson Montval acid-free paper. 20.5″ x 14.25″.
Sohail Abdullah. On the Chariot of Laxmi, Bhagtapur ‘07. Tannin toned Cyanotype on 300 gm Canson Montval acid-free paper. 20.5″ x 14.25″.
Sohail Abdullah. Mangroves by Night, Karachi ‘04. Tannin toned Cyanotype on 300 gm Canson Montval acid-free paper. 20.5″ x 14.25″.
“Dear Diary” – the Reading
”Dear Diary” was planned as an interdisplinary event that sought to explore the relationship between the visual arts and literature. Since journal writing itself is a textual activity that was being translated in to the visual space through the art work, we thought it would also be interesting to examine how writers have chosen personal narratives to develop fiction and autobiography.
Our readers, (left to right) Sanam, Momin, Zoe and Omar, came to the gallery a week prior to the exhibition opening to see and discuss the art work and formulated their responses to them through selected pieces of literature.
The reading was well received. Many thought it made the experience of the exhibit more rounded and relatable. The revival of the practise of a reading was commended by the older generation who remembered it being a vital part of the Karachi culturescape in the 70’s.
Some of the selected excerpts are as follows:
Zoe’s response to the show:
“What we remember lacks the hard edge of fact. To help us along we create little fictions, highly subtle and individual scenarios which clairfy and shape our experience. The remembered event becomes a fiction, a structure made to accomodate certain feelings…If it weren’t for these structures, art would be too personal for the artist to create, much less for the audience to grasp. Even film, the most literal of all the arts, is edited.” –Jerzy Kozinski.
Momin’s response to Samar Zia’s work:
The scapula is a flat triangular shaped bone which lies on the posterior superficial to the ribs and separated from them by muscle.
Shuttered like a fan no-one suspects your shoulder blades of wings. While you lay on your belly I kneaded the hard edges of your flight. You are a fallen angel but still as the angels are; body light as a dragonfly, great gold wings cut across the sun.
If I’m not careful you’ll cut me. If I slip my hand too casually down the sharp side of your scapula I will lift away a bleeding palm. I know the stigmata of presumption. The wound that will not heal if I take you for granted. Nail me to you. I will ride you like a nightmare. You are the winged horse Pegasus who would not be saddled. Strain under me. I want to see your muscle sheath flex and stretch. Such innocent triangles holding hidden strength. Don’t rear at me with unfolding power. I fear you in our bed when I put out my hands to touch you and feel the twin razors turned towards me. You sleep with your back towards me so that I will know the full extent of you. It is sufficient.” — Jeanette Winterson in Written on the Body.
Marjorie Hussain on “The Moving Image”
Marjorie Hussain. “New Space, New Ideas” in Newsline, Volume 22 (Number 6), December 2009. pp. 110-111.
http://www.newslinemagazine.com/2009/12/new-space-new-ideas/
“Dear Diary” Dec.16th’09 – Jan.8th’10
“Dear Diary” brings together the work of ten promising young artists for whom making art is akin to keeping a journal. These visual journals reflect how the artists approach the genre of autobiography. They employ it as a means to chronicle moments and events, or to work through memories via free associative devices, or to reflect on or escape from the world around them.
The exhibition opens December 16th, ’09 with a reading by Momin Zafar, Omar Bilal Akhtar, Sanam Saeed and Zoe Viccaji. Based on their responses to the work, the readers selected texts to amplify or deconstruct the themes in the visual narratives. The reading hopes to bridge the gap between visual and literary forms of creative expression.
The show continues till January 8th, 2010, daily (except Sundays and public holidays), from 10:30am to 7pm.
Mohsin Shafi. The Platform. Digital print on archival paper. 30″ x 45″.
Mohsin Shafi. The Conflict Within. Digital print on archival paper. 24″ x 36″.
Mohsin Shafi. Blocked. Digital print on archival paper. 24″ x 36″. red dot
Emaan Mahmud. Untitled. Mixed media on canvas. 36″ x 30″.
Emaan Mahmud. Untitled. Mixed media on canvas. 27″ x 27″. red dot
Emaan Mahmud. Untitled. Mixed media on canvas. 24″ x 30″.
Emaan Mahmud. Untitled. Mixed media on canvas. 30″ x 30″. red dot
Mariam Ahmed. Remembrance 1. Digital print on archival paper. 16″ x 10.5″.
Mariam Ahmed. Remembrance 2: Dilli ki Yaad. 39″ x 51″. red dot
Huma Shah. The Struggle. Oil on canvas. 41″ x 53″.
Samar Zia. Soutures. Conte, charcoal and arylic on paper.
Samar Zia. Politics of Nature. Conte, charcoal and arylic on paper. red dot
Samar Zia. Nephrostomy. Conte, charcoal and arylic on paper.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K. red dot
L. red dot
M.
Ambreen Hameed. Badges of Honour. Graphite and emulsion on wood. 9″ x 9″ each.
Ammad Tahir. Blast from the Past. Pen, marker and paint on paper. 25″ x 35″ red dot
Ammad Tahir. Dancer and the machine. Pen, marker and paint on paper. 11.5″ x 35″
Ammad Tahir. Dancer in a dream. Pen, marker and paint on paper.11″ x 35″
Sonia Shah. Self portrait. Oil on canvas. 42″ x 60″.
Sausan Saulat. Bored on Board. Mixed media on wood. Each board: 11.25″ x 14.75″.
The Opening Nov.19th, 2009
Marjorie Hussain (left), Roohi Ahmed
Anwar Maqsood (left), Nahid Raza, Rashid Maqsood, Irfan Hasan
Usman Ghori and Asad Hussain (far left), Rumana Hussain, Niilofur Farrukh, Murtaza Vaid, Mukhtar Hussain
Hussain Naqvi, Sumbul Khan
Munawar Ali Syed, Abdul Jabbar Gul, Nafees Ghaznavi
Abdullah Syed, Sumaira Tazeen
Abdullah Syed (left), Asad Hussain (back), Roohi Ahmed (in black), Sumbul Khan, Munawar Ali Syed (right)
The Moving Image (Nov 19th-Dec 4th)
The Moving Image is a visual conversation between Roohi Ahmed, Munawar Ali Syed, Abdullah Syed, Farah Jamaluddin, Asad Hussain, Auj Khan and Irfan Hassan about the ways in which the media boom has transformed lived reality in urban Pakistan. The artists exhibited here include those who work within the media industry and those who observe its products from the outside.
Curated around Jean Baudrillard’s ideas of hyperreality and simulacra, the works in the show critique the pervasive influence of the moving image in the lives of uncritical audiences. The myth of objective reportage, the ever watchful gaze of the “well-informed” anchor and the particularity of network agendas in tailoring coverage are referenced here. Other voices question the glamorous representations of the real world in entertainment programming, querying how these representations speak to the psyche of the usual consumer, informing her/his perceptions and expectations of life. All said and done, they acknowledge the addictive potential of the medium that has the masses glued to their television screens at any given hour.
The show opens November 19th and continues to December 4th, from 10:30am to 7:30pm daily (excluding Sundays).
(click on each image for a larger view)
Irfan Hasan. Standby. Gouache and Screenprint on Vasli. 15.4” x 13” and 13” x 34”.
Irfan Hasan. Noise. Gouache on Vasli. 20” x 28”.
Roohi Ahmed. I-We. Installtion with Drip Stand, IV Drips, Drip Set and text.
I-We (detail)
I-We (detail)
Farah Jamaluddin. “Mera Moqaf” – My Agenda. Collage with painted Xerox paper and mirrors. Installation Dimensions Variable.
Munawar Ali Syed. Between the Black Boxes (a). Fiberglass, Wood and acrylic. 29.5” x 24.5”.
Munawar Ali Syed. Between the Black Boxes (b). Pen, ink and Paint on paper. 26” x 19.5”
Munawar Ali Syed. Between the Black Boxes (c). Fiber glass, Wood and acrylic. 28.5” x 24”.
Abdullah Syed. Trance-mission I-V. Electronic LED with painted aluminum and red diodes. Installation dimensions variable.
Abdullah Syed. This picture is not Static. Honey, Beeswax, permanent ink and emboss on Vasli. 20” x 17”.
This picture is not static (detail).
Abdullah Syed. Food for Thought. Cast beeswax. Approx. 21” x 13.6” x 1.5”
Auj Khan. Noise II. Oil on Vinyl. 70″ x 55″.
Asad Hussain. Morphing. Charcoal, embroidery and pen on leather. Approx. 7.5 ft x 7.5 ft.
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