A dog is man’s best friend. So goes the age-old saying, and to see the veracity of the statement one must visit the exhibition titled ‘Let The Sleeping Dogs Lie’ at the ArtScene gallery.
Lahore-based artist Shamsuddin may have had a different perspective when he was sketching those works, but to the casual viewer the theme that emerges is the bond of affection between man and the canine.
Shamsuddin, who actually belongs to Shikarpur but has spent most of his life in Lahore, says: “I live two parallel lives as I hop between two very diverse worlds with widely different environments.”
He said that in his recent work, he chose the dog as the central character to represent “the struggles we face, as it is an animal found both in the rural and urban areas. In both cases the treatment of the animal is the same”.
It’s a dog-eat-dog world, he added. “Humans act like animals and there is no end to the injustices being meted out. The work is, in some way, a reflection of the struggles which I face as an individual and which is the fate of our overall milieu.”
Be all that as it may, while this overly philosophical statement may just be Latin to most viewers and while most viewers may not be all that initiated in matters philosophical, what most clearly emerges from his works is the veracity of the age-old saying: “A dog is man’s best friend”.
The 17 paintings adorning the walls of the ArtScene gallery are a collection of the cutest postures of dog-man friendship. All the paintings show a child in the most adorable of poses with a dog.
The artist has chosen children to portray his work, which really brings out the most sublime beauty of innocence. The children depicted in the paintings are in the five-to-six age bracket.
One of these shows a child sleeping with a dog with his arms tightly clutching the canine in the most affectionate of manners. Another one shows a child with nothing on playing next to his dog, a lovely reflection of the innocence of childhood.
It is a reflection of how man and beast can exist in the most affectionate of harmony. The colouring is mostly pastel so as not to be a strain on the eye. In fact, Shamsuddin is a lyrical colourist.
The exhibition, which runs up until October 25, is a must-see, especially for dog lovers and for those who see the beauty of nature in the animal world rather than view it with abomination.
