Art for the people

With few exhibitions lined up in the month, art aficionados would perhaps be looking around for a glimpse of what is usually a busy art scene in the metropolis.

Along came Canvas Art Gallery with its first Pop-Up Art Show over the weekend. The exhibit commenced at 11am and soon there were visitors mingling about and browsing through art pieces, mostly paintings, mulling whether to take them home or not.

“I want to bring our people back to art galleries. We must dispel the notion that art is only the domain of the ultra-rich and create space for the public,” said Sameera Raja, owner of Canvas Gallery.

The paintings, some adorning the gallery’s walls and others set neatly along the floor, ranged in price from Rs6,000 and Rs50,000. Among these were several portraits, while some artists had gone for abstract paintings.

One of the more eye-catching pieces showed a burqa-clad woman with a cupcake levitating in front of her.  

 “The varied price range is meant to encourage the belief that more people can buy art. Even if they do not want to buy, people are more than welcome to come here and have a look at the artworks,” said Sameer.

“The results were very encouraging; people bought out all the pieces in no time. Everything was sold out and we had to bring out more pieces from our storage. That was why putting up a list wasn’t possible.”

Artists including Imran Channa, Afshar Malik, Hamid Alavi, Abdullah Syed, Akram Dost, Sohail Abdullah, Roohi Ahmad, Mohindas, Madeeha Laghari and Sara Khan were among the contributors to the show.

“Even if a painting was made years ago, we haven’t changed the prices in accordance with the suitable rate today. Rather, we opted to sell them at the original prices,” explained Sameera.

Speaking about other ongoing projects, she said a residency was held regarding sculpture making at a cement factory in Kushab, Punjab, and a similar model was to be followed in the steel industry.

“Such pop-up art shows may become an annual feature from now on. Also, we plan to continue with our usual exhibitions throughout the year,” she said.