ART FACTS: Imagination and realities

Water clouds, rain, river, flood, deserts, drought all these elements appears symbolically in Aqeel Solangi's artworks at Koel Art Gallery, Karachi confronting the hardships faced by the humans at the hands of nature. These all are natures' gifts and curses as well as they are the sources of survival as well as they brought destruction for humans.
The title of his exhibition 'Vus'at-e-Bahr-o-Bar' explains completely what he wants to convey through his work. Aqeel's contemporary paintings are done in Acrylic with a combination of different media and techniques. He uses geometrical shapes and designs to portray his subject even the currents and under currents of water in the form of waves is painted in geometrical shapes.
Aqeel's artworks show his full dedication and attachment to his roots. He is sensitive and emotionally attached to weather, water, sky, and earth. Born in Ranipur, Sindh in a village Aqeel lived in direct contact with the soil since his childhood and therefore the nature's power has long lasting deep effects on him, as farmers relies on natural resources for their livelihood.
His work is loaded with symbols and patterns. The clouds, water currents of flowing rivers, sand dunes, periwinkle flower, cactus trees, houses, circles,squares and empty pipes are the signs used frequently mostly altogether in one painting by Aqeel. These symbols connect and inter connect the paintings transforming elements of nature, giving them new meaning. Water with cloud; cloud with drops of rain, rain with life and the calamity of flood and after floods the thirst because of dry rivers becoming deserts, leading to drought.
The paintings show his search for cultural identity through remarkable images exposing his poetical sensibilities. He loves Urdu and Punjabi poetry other then Shah Sain. The visual interpretation of seasons and folk romance give a magical touch to his paintings.
The paintings are full of icons like the periwinkle flower, silver clouds and cactus tree to name a few, which have become personal symbols which reminds him of certain event, place or a person. His flat compositions, colour application and painting in detail resemble miniature.
The presence of clouds and waves dominate his paintings sometimes the dark heavy clouds and in others white saturated clouds hovering on the blue sky. Water and clouds seems to fascinate him the most. The bright colours in his paintings evoke serene moments, the flower set against an imaginary background and the blue sky with white or grey clouds altogether take you to an imaginary world.
His paintings intimate landscape, but the elements are manipulated and twisted actually deliberately distorted. His colour choices and compositional balance are often exquisite. His use of colour is bold while his marks are sensitive with unique style of his own. He works in a broad range of colours and tones but tends to focus on one range of hues in each painting, from hot reds to bright white, from dark black to deep blues. The effect he creates is dream like but not quite surreal. His paintings have a sense of timelessness.
Hence the immediate impression one gets while viewing the artworks of Aqeel is of beauty and delicacy, subtle yet so pertinent. His paintings are full of movement with colours that enhance each other and create rhythm and depth. Aqeel has acquired M.A (Hons) Degree in Visual Arts from National College of Arts, Lahore, in 2005. He has four solo exhibitions and several group shows to his credit. He has achieved scholarships and many awards during short span of time. He is presently teaching at the Rawalpindi campus of NCA as an Assistant Professor. [email protected]