Iqbal Hussain’s art show opens today

Islamabad: Former Country Director of the World Bank John Wall is in town from the United States to inaugurate a retrospective exhibition that presents an overview of artist Iqbal Hussain’s achievements across various media including painting, drawing and printmaking. The show opens at Tanzara here today (Tuesday).

“Iqbal Hussain is one of the most important living artists of Pakistan. For nearly 50 years, he pursued a singular career with a love for painting and its intrinsic challenges. For Iqbal, painting was an integral part of his struggle, which allied itself with the forces of liberation. Over the course of his five-decade career, he committed himself to addressing the plight of Lahore’s old walled city courtesans, dancers and musicians. Through his paintings, he looked beyond the glitter and addressed the darkness, despair and desolation that enveloped them,” Noshi Qadir stated.

John was instrumental in supporting Iqbal Hussain’s cause by organizing various art exhibitions and giving the artist his due respect and recognition. “This major retrospective, which is part of John Wall’s collection, honors the artist by presenting some of his most iconic works and key moments of his career,” Noshi added.

John will present Iqbal Hussain’c collection and talk about the paintings as well as his interaction with the artist. “I was born and brought up in Lahore Shahi Mohalla and what I saw around me inspired my works, my subject matter being the courtesans and musicians of the area. I have no intellectual pretensions—these are my people and I paint them as I know them from their close quarters. I paint what I see around me and each one of my paintings tells a story—they portray the hardcore reality of life, reflecting the day to day pain and pleasure of the common people,” Iqbal explains in a written statement.

The exhibition will continue till November 27.