Solo display of 23 paintings continues at KAG

ISLAMABAD A contemporary solo display of 23 paintings by a Lahore-based painter Rakhshanda Atawar entitled 'The Line Unleashed is on at the Khaas Art Gallery. It will be concluded on the Saturday next October 23, and can be viewed daily from 11am to 6.30pm at House 1, Street 2, F-6/3, Margalla Road. The charcoal and pastel artwork as the painter Atwar have emerged from just stupid little un-loveable marks. But the outcome is just wonderful with all the magic of rhythm and spontaneous movement. The visuals offer a lot more what is apparently depicted and shown to the eyes. To feel the soul of truthfulness and the emotions of the emotionless, one may have to go as deeply involved with the moments Atawar has gone with truthfully. She said, All the paintings came out of the unconscious journey of my feelings and emotions with a single thought or a point of concentration. All the rest was woven around that thought or point while discovering and unleashing the journey of the line. Her painting may not attract one at the first glance but take one to the world of curiosity - make one to spend some moments with each of them. As the time is spent with them, Atawars paintings start revealing themselves. Here begins the moment to fall in love with them. In her paintings, Atawar has tried to transform her reflection of inner mixed emotions of joy and frustration, which according to her made these pieces in creative forms with new compositions. Over half of the collection is done with charcoal but the artist uses black pastel to give it depth and uses white chalk to give it a hazy smoky effect. Atawar, who graduated in 1984 from the National College of the Arts (NCA), Lahore, observed that the public should look at art as an experience different to what is to be seen in realistic paintings. The close and deep look may discover hidden contours of the female figures in many of the glass-framed exhibits mainly consisting black and gray drawing work finely tuned with colour pastels. Some of the paintings are fine touched with light yellow or green or ochre red etches. All artwork is on white paper while leaving a lot of white blank space, perhaps, to give more 'breathing space to her objects as well as to her feelings and moods. Aasim Akhtar, the curator of the show, said Atawar does not have a destination in mind. She has a travellers journey ahead of her rather than a tourists planned itinerary. What he finds most appealing in her work is the open-endedness of her themes. Each piece is different and separate from the other; each piece is an isolated emotion, open to interpretation. Like children in a sweet shop, I was invited to Rakhshanda Atawars studio at 39 K, Model Town, Lahore, to cherry pick from a scattered collection of drawings on paper and card. The result is a series of dialogues, juxtapositions and clashes, which go to the heart of drawings current diversity and richness, Aasim recollects in a catalogue specially designed for the show. Atawars abstract works present distinct technique, pulling back from realist idiom. She hinted at creating a new vocabulary with shining gray, which we believe is an exercise in putting restraint in the use of flashy colours to encourage the viewer to know what a painting might conceal.