Art fiend: Colours of Qalandar. ‘Lal ke Sada’ is a title that tugs at one’s soul and this is exactly what the artist Ali Abbas intends to do. Fascinated by the life and annual Urs celebrated by the devotees of Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, he delves into the world of mystics and spiritual seekers in his recent solo exhibition of paintings at Lahore’s Ejaz Gallery, captivating viewers with his magical imagery. A master’s degree holder in fine arts from Jamshoro University, Abbas is, in many ways, the typical ‘Sindhi painter’ whose depiction of the common people of Sindh, and particularly those residing in the desert areas of Thar, is his claim to fame. An accomplished water colourist, his works are invariably realistic, yet imbued with individuality in terms of compositional arrangement and selection of colours. This latter quality is apparent in his recent works and while one marvels at the brilliance of his brushstrokes and the way he depicts human figures, the use of monotones in collaboration with bright hues is equally admirable. So whether it was the women and children of the Thar Desert in his earlier works, or the wizened old men in his latest show, the quality of image is pristine. Abbas considers Sindh, as “the land of spirituality” as it has produced various Sufi saints, such as Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, Shah Inayat, Sachal Sarmast and, of course, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar whose Urs is the focus of this exhibition. An artist who usually paints ‘on the spot’, Abbas spent time at the shrine of the saint at Sehwan Sharif and interacted with the fakirs and malangs, both old and young, who claim that ‘Lal ke Sada’ or the beckoning of Lal Shah, compels them to visit the Mazar. It was his observation, that these devotees “seem to be controlled by a strange magic”, and that “they were real and yet belonged to a very unreal world”. It is this quality and ambience that Abbas has been able to capture successfully in his watercolours, transporting the viewer into a surreal environment. While the figures and postures of the devotees shown in the compositions are painstakingly detailed and authentic, it is the colours, the depiction of space and the way certain areas are emphasised and others blurred creating an aura of mystery as well as individuality. While some compositions have a surfeit of figures, others are focused on just a person or few individuals. The colour treatment also varies, with many paintings made in various tones of black, white and shades of gray or monotones of blue, with a few selected areas in brilliant hues, while others predominantly colourful. Also, an aura of mystery is added to a number of compositions by a fine haze or cloud of white that emanates from within the groups of devotees shown to be smoking their pipes as they sit around a fire. The backdrop of most paintings is a subtly painted version of the shrine, seen in the far distance. Indeed, many of the fakirs depicted in the paintings are not exactly a pretty sight, and in some of the compositions, more than one of these old men seem far too similar, as if one formula had been used to paint all the faces. Yet so finely painted are these images that this doesn’t present itself as an obvious flaw. And in the final analysis, one must confess to have been quite carried away by the skill and sensitivity of this talented artist.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 04:04:58 +0000
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