Riaz and Ayesha present ‘Raked Reveries’

Islamabad: An exhibition of paintings by two prominent abstract expressionistic artists of Pakistan—Riaz Rafi and Ayesha Siddiqui—opens at Gallery6 here today (Friday). While both the artists paint distinctly different subjects, their work is similar in terms of the use of bright colours and bold strokes in creating dazzling compositions in reverie—a state of dreamy meditation with imaginary visionary ideas.

The show is titled ‘Raked Reviews,’ and will be inaugurated German Ambassador Martin Kobler. Riaz Rafi holds a Masters in Journalism but chose art as his profession. He has been painting since school days. In 1983, he won the gold medal for his artwork in Sibi Mela. His first solo exhibition was held in Karachi in 1993. Since then, he has been painting regularly and has had 9 solo exhibitions and more than 80 group shows, both nationally and internationally.

In Islamabad, Riaz has been exhibiting his works at Gallery6 but gained popularity in the capital city when he held a show titled ‘Inimitable Consilience’ in 2015 with Tassaduq Sohail, in which both painters painted on each other’ canvas, creating history in Pakistani artworld.

Riaz continues to experiment; his recent work has figures in abstraction, creating an alluring dreamy state. There is distinct penetrative breaking apart of the figure, and the spaces around it. Each painting talks to the viewer through its texture, colour and subtle imagery.

Ayesha Siddiqui acquired doctoral degree in Fine Arts from the University of Punjab in 2014. She gained popularity for abstract works exploring ideas of concealment and camouflage. Besides Pakistan, she has also participated in group shows in Bangladesh, Jordan, China, New Zealand and UK. She has exhibited in the Asian Art Biennale four times and in the Asian Art Expo in Beijing.

In this exhibition, Ayesha demonstrates her love for nature with landscapes in experimental geometric forms with unusual colours and serenely or tantalizing shimmering lines carrying characteristics of somewhat colour field paintings.

Commenting on her work, Dr. Arjumand Faisel, curator of the gallery, stated, “Her compositions are explicitly composed with the intention of depicting a beautiful landscape to the viewer in her iconic style which at times appears to have inferences drawn from Rothko’s or Hoffman’s works. There are definite pictorial structures, spatial illusion, colour relationships and careful planning.” The exhibition will continue till July 1, including weekends, daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.