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The human figure has been a subject of artistic conjecture since the pre-historic times. Since times in memorial, studio practices have involved drawing human postures, gestures and figurines. This modelled artistic application defines one’s anatomical sophistication in his/her works. The contemporary practice of abstracting emotions hidden beneath textures, layers and hues of colors has becomes a defining genre for many creative minds.
Expressing this anatomy of human body in their visual language, three Pakistani artists come together in a three man show in the Grosvenor Gallery. Amidst the current times when – Black Lives Matter global campaign has become an important and rather a pressing topic, these three Asian origin artists charter into an unorthodox reverie in London’s white cube. Curated by Dr. Zehra Jumabhoy, this show documents a series of diverse South Asian figures -mostly masculine- covering diverse aesthetics from Baroque and Pop to the traditional Bengal School of art. Lavish brushstrokes and hues of warm psychedelic colors juxtapose together in contrasting styles by Salman Toor, Ali Kazim and Faiza Butt. This metamorphosis of diverse painterly creations reiterates the idea of human body to be something more profound than mere muscles and facial expressions wrapped in a bulk of flesh.
While Butt is based in London, Toor in New York and Kazim in Lahore, there is a tricky tread between their figures and forms, maintaining a suspenseful tension between what we think we expect from a painted body to what we actually perceive when we encounter one. This liaison between the viewer and the viewed, pushes figuration to its limits, testing its uneasy edges.
“In Butt’s works tiny abstract dots swarm together to form figures: male lovers, turbaned men and a porcelain pretty boy. As we step up-close we realize the dots are a riff on the purdakht of Mughal miniatures, where miniscule marks (traditionally made with a squirrel-hair brush) coalesce to conjure mini-Monarchs and their lavish retinues.” These tenderly built Islamic portraits in the artwork ‘Get out of My Dreams - 5’ simultaneously utilize a haul of necessities. Drawing references to the Pop Art culture, there are peachy popsicles, Nike trainers, melted ice creams and many more daily consumables that encircle the iconic figures. Whilst all this happening, Butt’s artwork doesn’t fail to remind us of the ‘Islamic terrorism’ being as much a product of global capitalism as these toothsome goodies- through the neat depiction of the human skull, gun and pills.
Meanwhile, juxtaposed to Butt’s rather pastel-shade, delicate and neat portraits, are Salman Toor’s rough edged, Pinocchio nosed and brown skinned human figurations. ‘As a queer Pakistani man in Brooklyn, Toor’s paintings explore his Insider-Outsider status. Green Group depicts a socially disparate cluster – some dressed in historical garb, others in Raggedy-Anne poverty – queuing up. “I was thinking of a varied group of travellers in transit or at some Immigration Centre. The viewer is a gatekeeper,” says Toor. While Take out, 2020 is more playful. Two young men – one Brown, one Blond – are snugly ensconced on a sofa, watching BBC’s historical tele-series, Cranford, and munching Chinese take-away. As we look at them, they gaze at the TV. We notice that – much like the period drama on the screen – the painted scene has been choreographed for onlookers. On the bookshelves are well-thumbed volumes and a stone Buddha; on the table lies chili sauce and mineral water. The picture is one of a carefully-constructed Cosmopolitanism, perfectly packaged for the elite culture-vulture. Do we consume cultural difference in the same way Toor’s multi-cultural couple gobbles noodles?’
In contrast to an accessorized landscape painted by Toor, Kazim simplifies his bodies of art to a minimalistic genre. His meticulous side profiles embody Pakistani plurality. A set off three portraits, (under his Man of Faith Series, 2020) rather depicts stark Dravidian features. Cropped to a bust like proportions, the masculine figures capture miniscule detailing. Exposing the bare skin, Kazim paints a realistic portrait rendering every blemish and skin pigmentation. An interesting feature to mark is that all his portraits fail to or deviate from making an eye contact with the viewer. It almost feels like their faith is covert and with an enigmatic space.
Figure & Form’s cross-referential art is about the art of looking at art; about the politically loaded way we see and are seen within it. As its painted figures meet our gaze (or evade it) we realise: these artists’ visions are uniquely their own but in a way manage to compliment, connect and embrace the other’s.
Show displayed at Grosvenor Gallery, London
In collaboration with Canvas Gallery, Karachi
Image Courtesy: Gallery and the Artists