While visiting the Artscene gallery, Karachi the other day I noticed a new atmosphere there, as the gallery gave a new look just like a drawing in grey colour. I was invited by Shahzad Saeed, Director, Artscene gallery, Karachi to preview the recent drawings by distinguish artist Saeed Akhtar, which would be exhibited at the forthcoming show scheduled for 7th January, Saturday.
A fellow of the National College of Arts, Lahore and a recipient of Presidents' Award for Pride of Performance, Saeed Akhtar is among our celebrated master artists. His solo exhibition of drawings is in charcoal on paper. His work reflects a creative genius inside him. His ethereal thoughts can be visualised through his drawings. The lively, expressive works reveal the inner feelings, influences, interests and his emotional state.
He is an aspiring artist of diversified skills. In my opinion the body language and facial expressions are the basic life of his works; he is a keen observer, who transforms the real images in his own way rendering them in a new manner in a specific style that is from real to surreal.
During a conversation Saeed Akhtar said that he loves to exaggerate the contours of the body and facial expression of his subject and embellish them with more interesting details.
Drawing is actually another source for his expression along with painting. His sensibilities of form, texture and colour including black and white are par excellence. The specific elements of light, colours, and textures in a particular atmosphere create a vision which then takes a form of drawing.
His drawings offer three dimensional as well as two dimensional forms in a skilfully detailed manner. He portrays the feminine form as part of nature while pure colours of black, grey and white are used to glamorise the simplicity of human body structure. Simple forms stand amidst the colourless background derived from nature crafted in order to provide a glamorous setting.
Devoid of colours, he reduces forms to their utmost simplicity and then embellishes them with vibrant charcoal strokes and energises them further with implied textures enjoying their subtle nuances.
The alluring and flowing recent drawings by Saeed Akhtar are the result of love for nature and what attracts more in all the natural things around.
The subjects of drawings are engaging. The firmly embedded visions in his mind take shape on paper. The energy with which his hand flows can be felt easily by viewing his drawings.
The ordinary faces of men and women in his drawings are full of expressions. Smiling, alluring drawings of young women with high-bridged noses, big bright eyes and heavy ornaments reveal a new world of beauty but mostly in deep thought, making it a serious affair. Among the drawings one sees some turban wearing men with the stories of life on their faces.
The complex human emotions are communicated effectively through black and white drawings, devoid of colours yet very impressive and attractive. The simple grey, black colour of charcoal is enough for Saeed Akhtar to convey his message to the colourful world. The issues of self and society both are raised in his works, sharing the beauty with the world in its pure natural way.
His drawings are often exploratory with considerable emphasis on observation and composition. His line work shows energy, enthusiasm, and a sense of emotional appeal. He produces extremely subtle value that increases dynamic of his drawing results in high quality, black and white creations.
He uses a combination of dark and light shades of charcoal in each piece, which adds texture and shapes and forms with shadows, and the shading bring depth in his work. His line work and shades helps preserve the depth, texture and values that are seen in his drawings. The various shades are used accurately to depict the environment and more complex impressions. The monochrome drawings have significant details that give extra dimensions to his work. nadeemzuberi71@gmail.com