Art show displaying work of contemporary artists kicks off

An art show titled ‘The Sacred?’ was inaugurated at the O Art Space Gallery in Lahore on Friday. Curated by Irfan Gul Dahri, the show will display the works of 9 eminent contemporary artists of Pakistan namely Adeel Uz Zafar, Ali Kazim, Ayaz Jokhio. Ghulam Mohammad, Mudassar Manzoor, Muhammad Zeeshan, R. M. Naeem, Salman Toor and Sana Arjumand. The exhibition will continue till June 4.

Adeel uz Zafar works as an artist, illustrator and art educator in Karachi. Zafar’s works have been featured in several national and international exhibitions including 6 solo shows and numerous group shows. He has also presented works in international art fairs such as Art Stage Singapore, Art Fair Philippines, Art Dubai, Art Abu Dhabi, Art Basel Hong Kong, Pulse Art Fair New York, India Art Fair and the 2nd Kathmandu International Art Festival.

Ali Kazim received his BFA degree from the National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan in 2002 and an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK, in 2011. His work exhibited widely in solo and group shows internationally. His group exhibitions include: Human Image: master pieces of figurative art from British Museum at Seoul Arts Center, Korea; ‘Dust’ Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle Warsaw, Poland; Treasure’s of the World’s Culture Museumsmeile Bonn, Germany; Portraits at Selma Feriani Gallery, Tunis and London; The Missing One at OCA, Norway among others. ‘

Ghulam Mohammad lives and works in Lahore. During his student days, he was selected for Inspire Trip to University of Central Lancashire (student exchange program under British Council). He did his Masters In Art Education from Beaconhouse National University in 2017. Mohammad uses language and script as a medium of expression of both his own identity and cultural, historical and contemporary context. His works are intricate collages of paper cuttings of Urdu text and other local scripts pasted on Wasli-paper, sometimes embellished with gold and silver leaf and Iranian ink.

Mudassar Manzoor has had numerous solo and group shows. His solo shows include: (2018) “Shahnama–A Journey Towards The Self” Chawkandi, Karachi, Lahore. (2016) “Recent Works” Emerge Gallery, Paris, France;  (2015)“I washed the dust of the eyes with blood” Koel Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan; (2014)“Once we were in Heaven” Artscene Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan; (2011)“The River Runs Dry” Rohtas II, Lahore, Pakistan; (2009)“Fallen” Gandhara Art Space, Karachi; (2009)“Contemporary Mniature Paintings” Frey Norris Gallery, San Francisco; (2008)“Surreal Narratives” Experimental Gallery, Hong Kong Art Center, Hong Kong; (2008)Gandhara Art Space; (2007)“Belief” Ejaz Galleries, Lahore.

Muhammad Zeeshan is a critically acclaimed visual artist who is currently an Adjunct Faculty of Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan. Zeeshan has several gallery, Art Fair, museum and institutional exhibitions to his credit including exhibitions at Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Herbert F. Johnson Museum at Cornell University, Abbot Hall Art Gallery at Kendal, Pacific Asia Art Museum at Pasadena, Art Gallery of Mississauga, British Museum, Gemak/Gemeente Museum, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum and Metropolitan Museum at Tokyo.

In the past twenty-two years, RM Naeem has held 16 solo shows both in Pakistan and abroad and curated various important shows of local and international artists. In addition, his work has been exhibited in numerous important group shows nationally and internationally, including The Asian Art Biennale Dhaka Bangladesh 2004 and 2006, The International Artists’ Biennale Iran 2006,

Salman Toor lives and works between Lahore and New York City. Toor received his Masters of Fine art (Painting) at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 2009. His works consist of complex figurative paintings of varying scale and style, ranging in subject from autobiographical constructs to Art History, Post-Colonialism and Pop Culture.

Sana Arjumand is a contemporary visual artist from Pakistan who has extensively shown across the globe and in her home country. Born in Karachi in 1982, She currently works and resides in Islamabad, Pakistan. She received a high Achievers award from Cambridge University in advanced level art and sociology. A wide range of subjects have been touched upon in her previous work, such as gender politics, identity, and religion. Her current body of work revolves around mysticism and spirituality, in which the Bird has become a metaphoric symbol of energetic beings suggesting the coexistence of higher dimensions.

Amongst her most prominent shows are a solo show at the Columbia Museum of Art and United Nations headquarters in New York. She has also had Solo shows in Aicon Gallery, New York, Mary Place Gallery Sydney, and in major cities of Pakistan. She has participated in group shows in London, New York, Hawaii, Seoul, Amman, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Her work has been represented several times in Dubai Art Fair, Indian Art Fair, Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Art Basel Hong Kong, Flux Festival, London and the University of Sunderland U.K.

Ayaz Jokhio was born in Mehrabpur, Sindh and holds a Bachelors in Fine Arts – Painting from National College of Arts Lahore, Pakistan. His solo exhibitions include ‘Half Paintings –Ayaz Jokhio’ Canvas Gallery Karachi. February 2017

‘Ayaz Jokhio’ (Solo booth) Canvas Gallery Karachi at Art Dubai.  February 2015 ‘Ideas Are Black and White’ Koel Art Gallery, Karachi. April 2015 ‘Portraits’ Canvas Gallery Karachi at Art Dubai. among others. He currently teaches art at BNU.