AQ Arif’s work termed soothing to eyes

LAHORE:AQ Arif’s paintings are a romance with the past as he holds on to the classic tradition.

In the words of Syeda Henna Babar Ali, who inaugurated the exhibition in Ejaz Art Galleries on Friday, AQ Arif’s work is soothing to eyes, pleasing to mind and it warms the heart. There is a dreamy quality about his paintings.

To Arif, skills are important and his paintings reflect the skill set he has acquired. He said he appreciates realism, adding, “We have left our classic tradition.” Through his work he wants to convey that “we all need to appreciate beauty and harmony given to us by God.”

Neeum, an artist, who was there at the exhibition, said, “AQ Arif’s work is rooted in his culture of this land and there is nostalgia in his work. There is a painting titled ‘A tribute to Maestro Allah Bukhsh’ in which Ranjha is sitting forlorn, not paying attention to his sisters and sisters-in-law who have come to cajole him to resume activity. The artist is inspired by Ustad Allah Bukhsh.

All paintings are oil on canvas, each one has a title and they are quite big in size. Images frequently found in them are of warriors, women, horses and decorated elephants that were used to transport the royals.

The meeting or stop over is by the bank of river. This unmistakably adds a longing for the idyllic, romantic past. The sceneries have castles in the background while in one painting they are shrines in a row. One can immediately identify them with the ones in Multan. All the paintings are quite big in size.

In the painting titled ‘Countless’, a mystique surrounds the girl with rose petals. There are paintings titled ‘an encounter by the river’

Born in 1975 in a family that had no connection to the art world, Arif graduated from Karachi School of Art in 1996 and was awarded Pride of Performance in 2020 and had 23 solo exhibitions around the world.