Being a Persian artist living abroad Mohsen Keiany became more sensitive towards his local traditional and social issues. He contemplates spirituality in the diverse traditions and human conditions. He wants to portray Sufism in its true spirit through his paintings.
He sees Sufis are people who offer love to other people and have a tender heart full of love, and they spread this love through their deeds for example by saving people from their sufferings and providing them comfort. One can witness many different elements and concepts about spirituality in Mohsen Keiany's recent paintings exhibition titled "Awaz-e-Munn" at Artscene Gallery, Karachi.
He tried to explore the traditional relation of life with Sufism producing a body of work in oil on canvas dealing with various types of traditional and non-traditional subjects. In his current works, he is dealing with the idea of connecting between body and soul by creating a dialogue between human beings and war related objects and othere religious and mystic events.
While elaborating his work to me Mohsen said, "In modern times Sufism has lost its actual concept, which is based on the love of existence may it be nature, animals or human beings. To me Sufism has no particular identity. Sufi can belong to any class, creed, colour or race. There is no specification of any time or place that is anybody at any time can be a Sufi. Hence Sufism is something unknown, timeless and placeless." His paintings integrate different styles producing works with many religious, historical, psychological and social meanings. They can convey spiritual contemplation, the harmonious relationship between man and the natural world, human suffering and the horrors of war.
He encapsulates human beings, animals and the world's grief and happiness altogether in a single painting in a harmonious manner. His artworks have strong features depicting everyday life yet close to the Creater. This is Mohsen's second exhibition in Karachi. It is a fascinating exercise analysing his paintings to identify their diverse influences and multi-layered messages. But Sufi mysticism is a special influence in his paintings.
"One does not have to sit in a corner and pray to be a Sufi," he said. "There are certain branches of Sufism in the world. In Iran you can not go close to a Sufi, but in Turkey they promote Sufism to attract tourists by showing some people dancing in colourful dresses. It is not Sufism."
Mohsen's inspiration also comes from Iranian painting, archaeology, Persian mythology, Islamic art particularly traditional Persian miniature painting and the landscape of Iran. The Persian history is full of love stories and stories of heroes in battles with their enemies. The Persian old manuscript often with illustration, demonstrate those stories beautifully.
Using Persian mythology and stories as subject material he comments on national and international events and the less creditable aspects of human behaviour. Captured in ecstatic colours and texture he manipulates images in his paintings showing the essence of the Sufi idea of equilibrium in nature. He wants to enhance the consciousness of people regarding spirituality and human needs. He uses beautiful hues red, green, ochre, black, brown, which gives a deep serene look to the paintings.
His paintings depict human sufferings and spiritual contemplation. His work has rhythm, for him painting is a form of meditation, he paints spontaneously following his instincts and feelings. His painting captures many characters and various feelings in a single canvas thus narrating a story to the viewers. The characters often ride horses, play music and participate in ceremonies, dances and other social gatherings. The strong facial expressions can easily be noticed.
The bright colour paintings reveals scored poems by Hafiz, Saadi, Iqbal and Maulana Rumi on their surface, showing the great Persian and Pakistani poets influence on Mohsen's work. These verses in Nastaliq give a visual impact to the paintings - a calligraphic touch. By the use of Nastaliq mode of calligraphy Mohsen provide a movement effect to his compositions.
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