Stop, Play, Pause, Repeat > September 24th > @LawrieShabibi

Adeel uz Zafar I am angry & I mean it (Diptych), 2012 Engraved drawing on plastic vinyl 274 x 244 cm

As part of Lawrie Shabibi's commitment to promote young emerging talent from countries that lie beyond the Middle East (but which have important historical ties with the region), the gallery is pleased to present Stop, Play, Pause, Repeat, a group exhibition that brings together eleven young and mid-career artists from Pakistan.  

International interest in contemporary art from Pakistan has been growing over the last decade and in this exhibition we see a cognitive response from the artists to the persistent conflict in Pakistan, which is akin to a never-ending war that disrupts the lives of thousands each day. The artists have endeavored to engage with the social and political rupture in an attempt to subvert the war narrative prevailing on the television news channels by using a set of nuanced criteria and ironies that are disarming rather than appalling.

Salman Toor Untitled, 2012 Oil on Linen 143.5 x 148.6 cm

In Pakistan, the conflict is insidious. The ‘war’ is not an overt one although its effects are. The guerrilla war raged by the Taliban, the degenerative economy and the deepening disparity between classes have created a fertile breeding ground for fear and anxiety, with no respite in view. In general, the dilapidation of the social fabric of the nation is evident in all aspects of life.

Salman Toor Decent Couple, 2012 Oil on Canvas 50.8 cm

The eleven artists have sought the means to look beyond visceral and employ the use of irony, very much in keeping with the milieu – Jonathan Keats the conceptual artist and experimental philosopher says, “Irony is art’s shibboleth”. The works produced are heavily nuanced rather than immediate and as the title suggests, ubiquitous rather than didactic or edifying. The title infers playfulness, but that arises from the deliberate attempt on the part of the artists to deflect the attention of the viewer from the propinquity of the chaos. In fact, many of the works exude levity, which adds to the poignancy of the narrative rather than diminishes it.

The themes that have emerged in the artists’ explorations of the anarchic situation in Pakistan include such diverse elements as nostalgia, fragmentation, altered perceptions, intolerance of the ‘other’ and the loss of innocence.

Stop Play, Pause, Repeat is in collaboration with ArtNow, Pakistan’s only online magazine for contemporary art.

Stop, Play, Pause, Repeat

24 September- 25 October, 2012

Artists

Abdullah M I Syed

Adeel uz Zafar

Ahsan Jamal

Irfan Hasan

Madiha Hyer

Mahreen Zuberi

Muhammad Ali (in collaboration with Cyra Ali)

Saba Khan

Salman Toor

Sara Khan

Seher K Naveed

Highlights of some artists

Mahreen Zuberi obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts from National College of Art, Lahore in 2003 (NCA), specializing in miniature painting. She has been part of numerous shows, including Resemble Reassemble, Devi-Art Foundation, India, 2010; Invisible Cities Aicon Gallery, New York, 2010; Hanging Fire, Asia Society Museum, New York, 2009; A thousand and one days, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hawaii, 2005; Miniatures Contemporaines Du Pakistan, France, 2005; Re-inventing Narratives, La galerie Mohamed-el-Fassi, Morocco, 2004; "Contemporary Miniature Paintings from Pakistan" Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan, 2004.  Her work is in the collection of Queensland Art Gallery, Australia; Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan and the Devi-Art Foundation, India and is currently touring Australia as part of Queensland Art Gallery's travelling exhibition. 

Abdullah M. I. Syed was born in Karachi, Pakistan. He is presently working and living in both Karachi and Sydney, where he is completing his PhD in Fine Arts practice at the College of Fine Arts (COFA), University of New South Wales. Syed holds a BA degree in Design (1999) and MEd (2001) from the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO), USA. He also holds an MFA (2009) from COFA. Syed is multi-talented as an artist, freelance designer, and curator. He has coordinated the Design Department at the University of Karachi, Pakistan and has also lectured at UCO, USA. His artwork has been featured in exhibitions in Bangladesh, Sharjah, USA, Australia, Hong Kong, India, UK and Pakistan. Syed attended the Britto Artists’ workshop (2005) and has been an artist in residence at Cicada Press, Sydney (2009). His co-curating credits include Michael Esson’s: A Survey of Drawing, Michael Kempson’s: A Survey of Prints, Aboriginal Dreams, Let’s Draw the Line, and 6/6: the Labyrinth in Karachi. Syed has acquired a number of awards including the Individual Artist of Oklahoma Award for Installation (2003), the COFA Senior Artist from Asia Scholarship (2006), the UNSW’s Postgraduate Research Scholarship (2009), and Blacktown Art Prize (2010), Sydney.

Ahsan Jamal was born in Jhang, Pakistan in 1975 and is currently based in Karachi Pakistan. He graduated in 2003 from the NCA. He has participated in numerous group shows, including exhibitions at the British Counsel, London, 2011, Mannor House, Ikley, 2009; Aicon Gallery, New York, 2008; National Art Gallery, Islamabad, 2007, HNTB Gallery, Washington, 2006 and Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan, 2004. His work is also a part of the permanent collection at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. He has had a solo exhibition in India following a research project at Khoj Studios, New Dehli as well at Canvas Gallery, Karachi, 2004, Rohtas II, Lahore, 2009, Rohtas, Islamabad, 2010 and Koel Gallery , Karachi, 2012. He has taught extensively in many art colleges in the country including the National College of Arts, Lahore and is currently teaching as Assistant Professor at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and Karachi University. He also founded the Miniature Department at the Center of Excellence in Art & Design, Jamshoro. 

Adeel uz Zafar was born in born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1975 and obtained his BFA from NCA, graduating in 1998. He participated alongside both national & international artists at the RM Naeem Residency, Lahore, and in group shows including On the Brink, Fost Gallery, Singapore; Slick Art Fair, Paris; 2011; a Two Person Show with Ayaz Jokhio, Canvas Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan and more recently at Pulse, New York. Adeel was also part of the seminal show The Rising Tide - new directions in Art from Pakistan 1990-2010 showcasing a new wave of Pakistani artists.