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BY MUNIR AHMED
The exhibition of drawings on paper, Buy one, get one, by Hasnat Mehmood kicked off at the Rohtas Gallery Friday with an unusual opening reception. Some of the work has already been installed before the guests arrived while some was not. As the guests entered the exhibition hall, the artist started hanging rest of the work on the walls.
‘It is part of the show’, said Mahmood when asked if the gallery was too late to install the work. The opening was perfect in a way for the artist who is on look for unusual way of expressing himself. His work though apparently looks like the replicas of the world-known classic art in graphite drawings; Mehmood has actually brought out a conceptual connotation in his recent work.
He describes his conceptualisation behind his present work. “I have seen so many tags for western brands on which is written Made in Pakistan or Made in Sri Lanka or the name of some other developing country. This body of work emerges out of noticing these tags. I took this phenomenon from the business world and translated to the art world. On one level, the images I make are simply copies of famous artworks, but the inscriptions that I insert are equally important. The text tells a story of the pictures and their origins or influences.
“In doing so, I try to expose the system of dominance and reliance during the time of European colonialism. At the same time, I explore the importance given to some artworks over others. These images trace the history of foreign rule that marks this region. I have carefully selected images to pose questions and highlight relationships between colonialism and neo-colonial period that defines the contemporary moment.
“The title of the exhibition Buy one, get one refers to signage and the advertising trends in which nothing is actually free, but only made to appear as if it is.”
Mehmood’s drawings are not merely the sketches. They have all the aesthetics as if any painting could have. The tones of graphite define the best possible imagery in black and white. The thousands of tiny circles make some wonderful images. Marilyn Diptych by Andy Warhol has a tag ‘Made in Japan’ whereas Olympia by Edouard Manet is tagged as Made in Sri Lanka, and so on.
Hasnat Mehmood was trained as a traditional miniature painter from National College of Arts. But, in his enthusiastic search for a new language in his art, he transformed the traditional practice into contemporary dialogue.
The art-critics term him a highly progressive and radical artist. Mehmood creates contemporary art about a technique that is considered to be a traditional practice. Miniature painting is thought to be the cultural heritage of Pakistan; as such, it should remain recognisable as it was practiced in the past.
The experiments he takes on in his approaches to miniature painting render the work to be anything but a miniature painting. He explores a number of issues related to the miniature painting movement as it has evolved in Pakistan in the last two decades.
He also explores how we do not look at things objectively, despite having perfect vision. We come to a work of art with an entire network of ideas, opinions, and experiences. It is a system of understanding that frames our vision.
Quddus Mirza, about his previous work wrote of his work: “Mehmood has ventured into another realm and can be labelled as a conceptual miniaturist.”
A Bachelor of Fine Arts in Miniature as major subject from the National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore, with distinction, Hasnat Mehmood is a lecturer of fine art, and teaching first-year’s foundation drawing course at the National College of Arts, Lahore.
Published in daily Dateline Islamabad, December 24, 2011
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