the city with a deep fascination.”
The artist lamented that the peaceful and tranquil period of the city had been lost in the dust of hatred and quarrel. He accused both provincial and federal governments of showing negligence towards resolving the core issues of the economic hub of the country.
“The Sindh chief minister is as old as the city is,” he commented. “We need people to run the city who know the ground realities of the metropolis and can resolve its issues with wisdom and enough courage,” Shehzad said.
Describing the nature of his art, he said the elements of love, peace, beauty and sanctity were the focal points in his paintings.
Talking to The News, renowned art critic Chitra Pritum described Shehzad as one of the best painters who had depicted the older memories of Karachi.
“His work reminds me of paintings of old masters who were very cautious in stroking every single brush on a canvas. His paintings have the charisma to hold you and communicate long with you about the golden city of Karachi,” he said.
The critic said that Shehzad’s paintings were very vibrant and spoke about stories of the city, and even a common person could interpret them in multiple ways.
“Young artists of our country can learn a lot from this sort of work. A painter has to learn the art of crafting as well to polish his basic skills and progress towards excellence,” Pritum said.
Rizwan Khaskheli, a novice artist, said it was great for him to look into the history of Karachi through the paintings.
“I have not seen this Karachi that has been portrayed by the artist. He has made me travel through times to look into the lost chapters of the metropolis,” he said.
Khaskheli said the colour schemes were showing the caliber of the artist. “He has just made me speechless by using colour combinations in a vibrant and descent manner,” he said.
A large number of people attended the opening ceremony of the event. The exhibition will run till May 5.