‘Prissy Play’ celebrates diversity of water color techniques

Islamabad : Shedding light on the intimate charms of water colour painting—one of the most misunderstood yet adventurous and action-oriented mediums—an exhibition featuring the works of 14 artists opens at Gallery6 here today (Friday).

‘Prissy Play,’ as the exhibition is titled, chronicles the works of Abbas Kamangar, Ali Sajid, A Q Arif, Arif Ansari, Asrar Farooqi, Ather Jamal, Fariya Zaeem, Farooq Aftab, Farooq Siyal, Hamayun Azam, Javed Qamar, Muntehaa Azad, Sadia Ansari and Shan Amrohvi.

The show has been curated by Ali Sajid. Discussing his work, Ali said “Within the space of a frame, I try to build the world of landscapes and cityscapes that celebrate the cheerfulness of history and the beauty of a city. I not only capture the image as it is, but try to give a life to the place once more.”

A Q Arif’s point of interest is architecture. “I have shown complexity and simplicity complementing each other. I usually choose minimum colours and works in their tone, so that the attention of the viewer does not divert from the objective.” Arif Ansari has captured the fleeting effects of light in landscapes while Asrar Farooqi has depicted city scenes. His subjects include decorated wagons and rickshaws, the hustle bustle of bazar scenes, vendors and newspaper sellers, and famous buildings.

Ather Jamal has focused on Thari women in their usual bright colours. Fariya Zaeem, a contemporary expressionist painter, has experimented with wet-on-wet, dry-on-wet, salt technique, shrink-wrap, bubble-wrap, dry flat, round and all kinds of brush strokes and bleeding effects. Discussing Fariya’s paintings, Dr. Arjumand Faisel, curator of Gallery 6, said “Her paintings are based on lyrical abstraction that primarily conveys a sense of the larger spiritual outlook. Her work is more about a certain temperament, a desire to communicate concepts, thoughts, ideas, and emotions abstractly.”

Farooq Aftab has explored wonderfully with negative areas and seems to have adopted the technique of working from light to dark areas. In this exhibition, his boat series is likely to draw attention. Farooq Siyal from DI Khan enjoys painting landscapes and cityscapes, and portraits of women. He has made more than 40 portraits of Kalash women.

Ghulam Abbas Kamangar has painted several subjects, but his favourite is sufism. Regarding his affiliations with this subject, he commented “there is love, peace and colours of friendship in my paintings.” Humayun Azam has painted pigeons while Javed Qamar, a self-taught artist, has contributed calligraphic works.

Munteha Azad is participating in her first group show. Munteha decided to become a painter at the age of 14 but could not get approval from her mother and was forced to take up Textile Design. Somehow neither textile nor fashion excited her. While struggling to find ways to return to her passion of painting, she came across A Q Arif who not only inspired her but made sure that she pursues her craving for painting, and that too in water colour.

Sadia Arif Ansari’s paintings show her love of flowers, as her compositions focus on vines and climbers. Shan Amrohvi first paints the background and then brings in his element, the horse, on the surface using pull in technique of water colour. The exhibition will continue till September 23.