ART FACTS: Vivid and ingrained impressions

Mehtab Ali's boldly rendered glamorous women have become his signature style. While various hues merge and submerge on his palette creating vivid and ingrained impressions, it is evident that the compositions were used to depict his state of mind, his chain of thought and his varying moods and emotions in a current series of paintings in a solo exhibition at Samanzar Gallery, Karachi.
The show titled "Moods of Colours" comprised the paintings and drawings portraying alluring images documenting cultural and historical aspects of women's life. Different moods and postures of women reflected an intense and passionate atmosphere. From images of women to peacocks, parrots and the moon which at times has sensuous as well as a romantic aura around them showed that these subjects and symbols fascinated him.
He used elements such as textures, lines, shapes, light and colours to balance his compositions. With a blend of traditional ancient architectural motifs, coloured windows, old metallic vases and ornaments, he created aesthetic transparent impressions. Mostly the artefacts were used in the paintings to present bygone days of ancient era along with damsels of the present times.
The object and the subject diffused with each other in his paintings creating an aura of mystery between past and present. Soft and enlightened women images unveil emotional and intellectual dilemmas of women through the centuries. He tried to link past with the present as the present is not different from the past - same old traditions are part of women's life.
His work was full of colours but with a compatible surrounding. Bold colours combination and fine strokes captured the diverse presentation of women and birds in attractive still life paintings.
He has played with colours, focusing primarily on the interesting moods and experiences of women. Vibrant and pulsating colours including red, orange, blue and ochre, with a stroke of lighter shades gave a charming effect to his paintings but red and brown being his favourite hues on the palette. The rich texture of his paintings gave an added touch of class to his paintings.
The colour, the composition and the style of rendition were compact and well integrated. He captured various contemplative moods and expressions of women in his paintings and thus shared their expressive moments. By depicting the women figures draped in colourful dresses and heavy jewellery of the old times he has given a new touch to his paintings and the subject also.
He painted young women in various postures. The women sits, stand, and lean against ancient brick walls and ancient scripts carved on the walls in the background serve as the past reflections in his paintings. He also worked on the minute detail of jewellery and clothes embroidery. Heavy necklaces, bangles and earrings having old designs relate two different times with one another.
The women with attractive colourful dresses and bangles appealed him. His gestural strokes composed delightful textures with flesh and fabric to capture the inner essence of the women figures draped in beautiful flowing garments of sharp tones look like blooming flowers.
He captured the women on his canvases along with their moments of joys, sorrows, astonishment, confusion and dreams. It gave him a source to discuss his aesthetic experiences and discovered hidden creative energy that turned his canvas into a colourful composition based on his observations and concepts. The creative impulse inside him made him to express his feelings in the form of paintings.
His strong movement of brush and bold strokes created a symphony and rhythm between the figure and the background creating serenity, silence and stillness in the paintings. The combination of high tone colours and powerful sketches in an unusual style of beautiful women faces was outstanding and colour combination made the compositions more vibrant.
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