Young artists display a visual excellence of artwork

Shahab Ansar

ALLAMA Iqbal very aptly has pointed out in his verses: “Beware of your own worth, use all of your power to achieve it. Create an ocean from a dewdrop. Do not beg for light from the moon, obtain it from the spark within you.” Three young artists are the personification of this great thinker of the East’s philosophy and thought. Through an unparalleled commitment and persistence in their belief, Ali Hammad, Ali Saad and Mahmood Hayat have worked towards carving out their own unique expression and turning it into a visual excellence. Recently, these three gifted Pakistani painters, who graduated from National College of Arts, marked their impression on a globally known painter’s platform league. Their works, The Bird Catcher by Ali Hammad, Othello by Ali Saad and The Descent by Mahmood Hayat, were recognised as the finest paintings and accepted in the finalist panel in the World Wide Kitsch 2018. The exhibition timeless being held by IX Gallery is proudly presenting stunning collection, featuring artists from 20 countries around the world. It is an amazing selection drawn from the world's finest painters, curated by Jeremy Caniglia via a jury that also includes Luke Hillestad and Ode Nerdrum. When interviewed, Ali Hammad talked about his philosophy behind his works by stating; “A certain great painter had once said that a beautiful sunrise remains always beautiful for us. It simply leads one into the world of aesthetic joy, the joy that never ends. Rather its loveliness increases day by day as the time rolls on. John Keats, an English poet, perhaps was right in saying that a thing of beauty is a joy forever. It gives us strange sensations in blood. The question is what moment a certain work of art has stopped giving us joy. Music, when soft voices die, promises to live in the memory. Similarly, a simple object or a moment or a sight done in a delicate way through multifarious colors gives new joy every day. Thus the pursuit of this aesthetic pleasure led me towards, like the great masters, creating such works of art. This very fact made me to preserve that great legacy of the great painters like Sorolla, Sargent, Rembrandt or even Ilya Repin to follow their footsteps as their names would remain indelibly etched in the minds of the art lovers. It is a piece of art in the shape of the great painting that promises us hope and joy in this challengeable world.” Ali Saad talks about his concept behind his works: “As we all know that nature, unremittingly presents to us objects, shapes and sights in multifarious colors and postures like those in the kaleidoscope, I took some of them that caught my attention to render them artistically. I was one mind with Wordsworth to claim that “the meanest flower that blows can give me thoughts too deep for tears”. Alas! One life time is not enough for an artist to h for an artist to render these shapes and objects, at once bizarre and mysterious, into beauty. But strange, that anything rendered in art becomes a source of eternal joy for a man, as we all feel with some great poet that “heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter”. Mahmood Hayat states: “I believe in establishing a system where like-minded, talented individuals can grow. As growing up in the early 80s I saw a handful of exemplary painters in Pakistan who motivated me towards figurative subject such as Collin David, and Saeed Akhtar. Furthermore, at a young age I was lucky enough to have travelled to foreign museums and galleries where I saw many famous works by the Dutch, Italian and Iranian old masters. That experience, enabled my mind to grow in so many directions. Painting to me is the most challenging thing to me because of its stasis, and how to create movement in my painting such as iconography. Striving to paint that moment from my imagination, the experience, of telling a story to the viewer without moving the object. To me that is the most beautiful thing about painting. I have been interested in imagining fantasy since early childhood and most of the time when I do not like to plan my next painting, I just paint with whatever is coming to my mind, mostly figurative forms such as a human subject or animal form thus creating a “sense of wonder” in my works. The finished painting shows a certain moment of ascension, hope, breaking free and fighting stance of the subject depicted in my painted scenes. Perhaps colliding with strength and learning to fly freely without boundaries. Yet what the viewer sees or feels is not under my control. I grew up with religious historic facts, and they also play an important part in my belief and imagination. Drawing and painting to me is more like a visual language. The only way I can express my inner feelings is through painting them on the canvas be that animal or human form. Since I love painting anatomy I always want to paint it beautifully.” In the past, Pakistan always marked its history with previous talented and well known souls. Even today, a handful of patriotic individuals are working diligently towards shaping and polishing this blessed country.