Satrang Gallery is an initiative of Serena Hotels Pakistan to encourage and promote talented artists in their pursuit of excellence
Early 2012, we had envisioned SerenArts Program to actively support and promote the Arts & Crafts by showcasing Pakistani Artists’ talents in all its artistic and cultural forms by utilizing the platform of Serena Hotels in Pakistan. On March 11, 2012, Satrang Art Gallery was commissioned at the Islamabad Serena Hotel with the hope that it could become the essence of emerging talent. Today, I am proud to say that we are well on our way to achieving our objective. Satrang Art Gallery has not only made a mark in Pakistani art and curatorship, but consistently hosted numerous themes, mediums and note-worthy works of art. On a couple of occasions, Satrang Art Gallery has collaborated with the international artists also. It gives me immense pleasure that the talented and deserving artists can now find solace in knowing that Serena Hotels and Satrang Art Gallery will always have a place for their art. On the 1st Anniversary of Satrang Art Gallery, I would like to congratulate Ms. Asma Khan, Director SerenArts Program and the Curator, Ms. Zahra Khan for their dedication and hard work in positioning Satrang Art Gallery as Pakistan’s showcase for Arts & Crafts. The management of Islamabad Serena Hotel also deserves compliments for their continuous support in ensuring the success of SerenArts Program. I wish Satrang Art Gallery the very best in all future endeavors. Aziz Boolani Chief Executive Officer Serena Hotels South & Central Asia
This extraordinary show presents the art works of 15 acclaimed artists. 13 of whom have shown with Satrang Gallery in this past year and been hugely successful. Inspired by the theme Conversations and responding to it through multiple mediums and in a variety of ways, these artists provoke critical dialogue. Amin Gulgee’s unique sound piece, Noor Ali Chagani’s signature sculpture, Shalalae Jamil’s thought provoking video and Aqeel Solangi’s mystical paintings are just a few of the exciting works on display at this remarkable exhibition. In the past 12 months Satrang Gallery has had 14 very successful exhibitions. Each show has been diverse in its concept and execution. Combining emerging talent with established artists and providing art lovers with the very best in Pakistani art, we have had the honour of showing the works of great masters Saeed Akhtar , Ahmad Khan, Rasheed Butt, Iqbal Hussain and rising stars like Mohsin Shafi, Sulaiman Khilji, Maria Khan and Sophia Khwaja amongst many others. The curatorial style of the Gallery has evolved in the past year, making sure we reach out to artists all over Pakistan, graduates from the leading art colleges alongside artists from Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Quetta and KPK. Satrang has established itself as a great platform for promoting contemporary Pakistani art. Satrang Gallery is also playing a role in international co operation in the field of art. We have invited foreign artists to exhibit alongside their Paksitani counterparts, as we strongly believe art and culture build great bridges between people and countries. We have had in this past year well known artists from Nepal, The Netherlands, Scotland, Argentina, Turkey and Sweden. Artist Talks by Dr Maria Lantz, president of Sweden’s institute of art, craft and design and Pakistan’s art critic Quddus Mirza. The SerenArts porgramme is also promoting artisans and giving them an opportunity to display and sell their work. In some cases these are dyeing crafts and need patronage. Master craftsman Mohammad Ilyas’s intricate carvings on slate and stone and Truck artist Mohammad Riaz’s brilliant pieces were displayed. Chitrali women artisan’s spectacular tapestries were exhibited at Satrang Gallery in an exhibition titled Ramzan Diaries. In its support of the Arts, the SerenArts programme offers 2 paid internships to art graduates to work at Satrang Gallery for a year. This is a great opportunity for young art graduates and emerging artists. Satrang Gallery continues in its efforts to nurture and celebrate Pakistani Art in all its forms. We are grateful to the Ceo of the Serena Hotels Mr Aziz Boolani for his unwavering commitment to supporting the Arts. Asma Rashid Khan Founder Director Satrang Gallery and The SerenArts Programme.
Not Everyone Talks Ali Asad Naqvi | Amin Gulgee | Annem Zaidi | Aqeel Solangi | Attiya Shaukat | Ayub Wali | Azanat Mansoor | Maha Ahmed | Mamoona Riaz | Mohsin Shafi | Nizakat Ali Depar | Noor Ali Chagani | Sahyr Sayed | Shalalae Jamil | Tahir Ali In honour of Satrang Gallery’s first anniversary, we present Not Everyone Talks. This show that presents the work of fifteen talented artists, revolves around conversations, those daily, spontaneous, usually oral, exchanges of ideas, thoughts and opinions. Not Everyone Talks simultaneously examines the conversations that are inspired by interactions with artworks, and which exist within artworks; the subtle messages that artists leave for their audiences, or the connections that viewers form with pieces of art. These sometimes manufactured, but primarily spontaneous exchanges facilitate the forging of a relationship between an artist, artwork and the viewer. Conversations grow out of words and languages. Amin Gulgee and Ali Asad Naqvi are both deeply aware of this as their work utilizes words and text to create vastly different bodies of work. Gulgee’s collaboration with Angeline Malik is a beautiful example of the dichotomy between different languages. It emphasizes the meaning that is lost when words are translated. This subtle sound piece rises and falls in volume
and tempo, mimicking the ebb and flow of banter. Like Gulgee, Naqvi also explores the interplay between languages and script. His pieces combine zoomorphic calligraphy, which is formed through animal imagery, with collections of Roman letters. With the ever-changing political climate, and the evident discrepancies in society, artists choose to instigate critical dialogue regarding the socio-economic and political order. Maha Ahmed’s work is a response to the constant scrutiny she undergoes as a part of the fabric of Pakistan’s society. Through her art, she creates safe havens and compartments, mimicking the comfortable niches individuals chalk out for themselves. Inspired by her own life changing personal injury and struggles, Attiya Shaukat’s uses fragmented body parts as a metaphor for a nation that politicians are desperately trying to repair. Annem Zaidi’s work represents and explores the treatment of the female gender in a largely male controlled society. She presents powerful portraits of delicate yet dominating female figures. The carved sculptures of Ayub Wali resemble megaphones, and can be viewed as a call to action. Wali’s examines the gaping holes in social and civil society. Artists like Aqeel Solangi, Tahir Ali and Nizakat Ali Depar enjoy creating alternate worlds by reorganizing their impressions of reality; they control the information available to their audiences. Solangi presents mystical views of nature by modifying the natural environment and order in his pieces. Although Solangi’s creations remain familiar, Ali’s process of inverting colours and forms, renders his sources unrecognizable. While Depar’s delicate miniature masterpieces present pairs of interacting animals. The natural animalistic behavior appears violent and strange in the scenarios Depar portrays. All three artists arrange their impressions in order to highlight the dialogue, imagery and conversation within their artwork.
Inspired by memories, emotions, views and dreams, artists choose to convey the mysterious realms of their very souls to their viewers. Shalalae Jamil’s video radiates an innocent purity and a fragility of love and loss. Her piece taps into memory, it uses delicate and fleeting imagery, and incorporates wavering melodies while speaking to varying levels of human consciousness. Sahyr Sayed’s pieces convey a child-like innocence. Her creations are reminiscent of childhood pleasures that continue to hold special places in the hearts of all adults. Azanat Mansoor and Mamoons Riaz create art that is inspired by the interconnected webs of their dreams and thoughts. This particular body of work combines their unique and individual styles; it was forged through a correspondence between the two artists. Self Analysis and introspection are of pivotal importance in the work of Mohsin Shafi and Noor Ali Chagani. Shafi’s delicate and thoughtful presentation of innocuous objects pushes his viewers to reexamine themselves and their dependence upon material objects. Chagani, on the other hand, isolates his audience with his signature miniature bricks. These tiny pieces weigh down the window frame and mirror within which they have been placed, and effectively block the viewer’s view of the outside world, and of any distractions. Like Shafi, Chagani pushes his audience to look deep within itself. This ensemble of pieces speaks to the audience through a variety of methods and mediums. It plays upon the senses, and its powerful visual, audio, and sensory imagery encourages viewers to respond and engage with these diverse artworks. We invite you to interact with the displayed art and participate in the unique conversation of Not Everyone Talks. Zahra Khan Curator
The Throne V, 2012 Graphite, gold leaf, water color pencil on mount card 27 x 41.5 inches Ali Asad Naqvi Ali Asad Naqvi (b. 1986) is a practicing artist in Lahore. He graduated with a Bachelors in Fine Arts in Printmaking, as well as a Diploma in Traditional Calligraphy & Turkish Illumination from the National College of Arts in Lahore in 2010. Naqvi works in several mediums and employs both traditional craft-making skills as well as contemporary techniques. His work looks to explore new ways of employing traditional methods in the contemporary art-making practice. I have always been predisposed toward the technical side of art-making, and it has influenced my work to a great degree. My approach utilizes traditional arts and crafts in a contemporary setting and amalgamates traditional materials and skills with modern technologies like photography and computing, and in the process seeks to find original expression. I am influenced by local culture and spiritual symbolism. The materials and symbols I am inclined towards are: compass, graphite, scratching, gilding, metal patination, abstract and non-representative geometrical patterns and basic shapes like square and cube.
The Throne IX, 2012 Graphite, water color pencil on mount card 43 x 30.5 inches
You didn’t, 2013 Oil on canvas 43 X 54 inches Annem Zaidi Annem Zaidi (b.1989) lives and works in Lahore. Zaidi graduated from the National College of Arts with a Bachelors in Fine Arts in 2012. Her work has evolved with time and involves a great deal of layering both in terms of ideas and execution. Being a female living in a male-dominated, Pakistani society fuels my persona and its representation through my art practice. In my paintings, transparency flows through the drapery symbolizing the mystery and simplicity inherent in every woman- exuding elusion, revealing lot more than meets the eye. With works focused on figures and portraits, commenting on both the realms of the body and its façade, my work aims to depict the female persona acting as a bridge between the inner and outer worlds.
So it is, 2013 Oil on canvas 72 X 42 inches
Untitled, 2012 Acrylic on board 24 X 27 inches Aqeel Solangi Aqeel Solangi (b. 1981) completed his Bachelors in Fine Arts (Honours) in 2003 and his Masters (Honours) in Visual Art in 2005 from the National College of Arts, Lahore. In 2006 he won the NCA/Charles Wallace Pakistan Trust Art Bursary for the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, London. He was also the recipient of the Young Talent Award by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts in 2006. Solangi lives and works in Rawalpindi. He is currently the Head of the Department of Fine Arts at NCA Rawalpindi and also conducts classes at SOLANGI’s STUDIO. Ancient beliefs, rituals and collective wisdom are the threads connected to human existence everywhere on the globe. I create locations which might not relate to the physical world. I also have a constant dialogue with nature; believing that every object in nature has its own emotional/ historical and cultural relevance, whether it’s a cactus, periwinkle flowers or clouds. Flowers carry different kind of symbolism and appearance. For example, Hibiscus flower is associated with Lord Ganesh in Hinduism like Lotus is associated with Lord Buddha in Buddhism. Periwinkle the five petals flower is called as ‘Sada Bahar’ in Urdu language (a name affirms the time). It also has a very strong mystical symbolism. Placing together these flowers give me an illusion of natural order and with the addition of elliptical light it adds theatrical situation in pictorial arrangement on surface.
Untitled, 2012 Acrylic on cloth and board 29 x 21 inches
Let’s play politics 3-6, 2013 Gouache on wasli 18.6 X 8.6 inches
Let’s play politics 6-6, 2013 Gouache on wasli 18.6 X 8.6 inches
Attiya Shaukat Atiya Shaukat (b. 1980) completed a Bachelors in Fine Arts (BFA) in Painting from the Lahore College for Women and another BFA in Miniature Art from the National College of Arts Lahore in 2004. Shaukat suffered a terrible fall when she was completing her thesis in 2003 and sustained severe injuries. Although this injury has influenced her work it has not hindered it. Shaukat is a successful internationally and nationally exhibited artist. For me, an art is a part of my body. ISS ZAKHUM NEI ITNA ZAKHMI KIYA K DARD KA EHSAAS JATA RAHA My new work depicts the unstable political scenario in our country where every political group is just playing with the emotions of the nation. My injury, prolonged recovery period has made me numb. So I’m playing with my body parts, making the unusual playoffs to spend the time as the political groups are doing with the whole nation. The technique is splitting, splicing and overlaying; I take the original image, which could be a figurative court scene, or an organic form, then slices the source image and then mismatches the sections when I join them. But the vision of the art works are disjointed and disrupted, making it clear that in a flick of a second the incident changed my life.
Bits & Pieces, 2013 Gouache on wasli 17.6 X 11.6 inches
Untitled, 2013 Metal sheet, barbed wire and wool 12x 24 inches Ayub Wali Ayub Wali (b. 1986) is from Gilgit-Baltistan. He graduated from the National College of Arts Rawalpindi with distinction in 2009. A nationally and internationally exhibited artist, Wali’s work is in the permanent collections of the Pakistan National Art Gallery. Wali participated in the VASL art residency in 2011, and is the recipient of the Prince Claus Award “Culture is a basic need” young artist in December 2012. My artwork takes a critical view of social, political and cultural issues particularly about civil rights, race, nationality, sometimes religion (sect) has created vacuum in the society that I live in. My premise revolves around these major social issues, where my work reproduces familiar visual signs, arranging them into new conceptually layered pieces. During research and production new areas of interest arise and lead to the next body of work. My practice believes in minimal imagery with maximum effect and in this endeavour I address the concerns of the common man.
Untitled, 2013 Metal sheet, barbed wire and wool 12 x 24 inches
Char-Bagh: Falling Leaves, 2013 Sound Running time: 00:03:15 Amin Gulgee Amin Gulgee has worked as a sculptor from his studio in Karachi for more than two decades. A graduate of Yale University, he received a BA in Art History and Economics in 1986 and won the Conger B. Goodyear Fine Arts Award for his senior thesis. Â Gulgee is a talented performance artist, sculptor and curator. He has exhibited extensively both at home and abroad and has had more than 30 solo exhibitions. His most recent include Love Marriage at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi in 2012; Cosmic Mambo at Wei-Ling Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur and at the ION Gallery, Singapore in 2011; Reading the Grid at the Consulate General of Pakistan in New York, and Looking for the Magic Center at ArtSpace, Dubai in 2009. He recently curated Imag[IN]ing Cities at the Amin Gulgee Gallery in Karachi in 2011 and he began 2013 by curating Rhywhti: One Night Stand, an evening of performance art by 26 Pakistani artists, also at the Amin Gulgee Gallery. Angeline Malik and I in the Paradise Garden
The Great Divorce, 2010 Split Beds and Windows - 16 mm film Running time: 00:06:03 SHALALAE JAMIL Shalalae Jamil was born and raised in Pakistan. Educated at Bennington College and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she has exhibited and curated work in Pakistan, The United States and the U.K. She has served as faculty at Beaconhouse National University, The National College of Arts and at The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture where she is currently the Program in Charge of the Postgraduate Diploma Course In Photography. Her works lend voice to various ideological conflicts that shape contemporary life in South Asia and its Diaspora. Currently the artist lives and works in Karachi. Shalalae Jamil’s work accesses the intensely personal and the unavoidably political with an ease and an awkwardness that brings it as painfully close to real life as perhaps only the medium of video is capable of doing. The Great Divorce then becomes the ballad of a life lived, of place and space, known, inhabited, remembered. The consistent archival aesthetic of the camera lends to the works the candidness of home movies and travelogues – an homage to memory.
Ghar mein chupay bethay ho, har ghar ko tum bhi taktay ho, 2013 Transfer print on paper 8.3 x 11.7 inches Azanat Mansoor Azanat Mansoor (b. 1989) graduated with a Bachelors in Fine Arts from the National College of Arts in 2012. Mansoor is a talented printmaker; she has experimented extensively with the technique of manual Photo transfer and exhibits her work frequently. She lives and works in Gujrat. Art has always had an important role in my work. I have mostly tried to capture and recreate my dreams through imagery in my previous work. For doing so, I had to write down the dreams, which added a lot to the process. I was luckily in touch with a friend (artist), who also has a great importance of text in her work, when we were given the theme ‘conversations’ to work on. Mamoona and I decided to write about each others work and make a conversation through letters and emails. The conversation included our perspective about the work, even criticism. We ended up composing one written piece each upon the work of the other, which informed the following images.
Yeh gird-o-nawah ki baatien jo tum dheemay dheemay kartay ho, 2013 Transfer print on paper 11.7 x 8.3 inches
Knowing is a curse, 2013 Mixed media 3 x 3 inches Mamoona Riaz Mamoona Riaz (b. 1987), lives and works in Rawalpindi. She graduated from the National College of Arts with Honours in Miniature painting. Currently working at Satrang art gallery, she has participated in many projects and workshops and exhibited her work extensively. A labyrinth of thoughts and reality - their point of fusion. A critical analysis of general behavior with the spaces around. My commentary is on how the divergence from one space to another works and within us part from each encounter resulting in behavioral changes. When we were given the theme ‘conversations’ to work on I started working with a friend, who is also an artist. We created a dialogue of our works through emails and letters which lead to written pieces followed up with the images we created upon the work of other.
Spider ate the fly, 2012 Transfer print and collage on wasli 12 x 8 inches
Dancing Girls, 2013 Oil on canvas 18 x 42 x 2 inches Maha Ahmed Maha Ahmed (b. 1989) graduated with a Bachelors in Fine Arts, with Honours from the National College of Arts Lahore in 2012. Although she is a recent graduate, she has shown her work in Lahore at the Drawing Room Gallery, the Rohtas Gallery, Islamabad and at the No Format Gallery, London. I live in a divided land, Pakistan. My art practice revolves around the conversation that stems from living in a constant state of insecurity, in a space where I am reminded day after day that I am being watched and judged. My current work is about non-threatening and subtle spaces that delude the mind to believe that there is still calm in the world but at a closer glance, they create a sort of turbulence in one’s mind because the calm itself is unnatural and staged.
Veiled, 2013 Paper collage 36 x 60 x 2 inches
No Regrets, 2011 Video with sound Running Time: 00:02:22 MOHSIN SHAFI Mohsin Shafi (b. 1982) holds a Masters (2011) degree and a BFA (2007) degree, from The National College of Arts, Lahore. He continues to serve his alma mater as visiting faculty, while living and working in Lahore. He has also been part of the visiting faculty at Beaconhouse National University and Pakistan School of Fashion Design. Shafi has exhibited his work nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at ‘The Ireland Institute’ in Dublin, Ireland in 2009 and at ‘CuntRa la Kunsthure’, Graz; Austria in 2012. Shafi was part of the Vasl Artists residency in 2010 in Karachi and was an artist in residence at the Rondo Studios, Graz; Austria in summers 2012. My work primarily deals with the parallel existence of everyday fears that are inherent in our waking lives as well as when we shut ourselves out and sleep. The curiosities of the world are in fact almost storybook-bizarre, however our constant interaction with them makes them familiar and common, though perhaps not always acceptable. The visual metaphors combine realistic portrayals of ordinary events with elements of myth and mysticism. I use the worn, the used, and the almost invisible. This I assume to be an effort to recreate my world, in my images. Through a play with an existing library of image and text, I attempt to communicate multiple interpretations of the one true meaning. These hyper-fantasy perceptions hence become facets of my current persona, both real and imagined.
Some of my pretty things, 2012 Archival print on Matt Canvas 39.3 X 60 inches
Reflaction, 2013 Gouache on wasli 20 x 30 inches Nizakat Ali Depar Nizakat Ali Depar (b. 1985) from Larkana Sindh, graduated from the National College of Arts in 2009 with a BFA in Miniature Painting. He currently lives and teaches in Jamshoro at the Center of Excellence in Arts and Design. A celebrated miniaturist, he has exhibited widely. My work is about exploring the conventional formations of Miniature painting and recontextualising the conventional formation of miniature painting, to make some unusual compositions. I am creating my own surfaces and deconstructing the images and their markings.
Reflaction, 2013 Gouache on wasli 30 x 20 inches
You are not welcome, 2012 Terracotta bricks, wood and iron 34x14x2 Inches Noor Ali Chagani Noor Ali Chagani received a Bachelors in Fine Arts in 2008 from National College of Arts, Pakistan, with a distinction. He specialized in Mughal, Persian and Indian miniature painting. Chagani has exhibited widely internationally and nationally and in 2011 was has the youngest nominee of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Jameel Art Prize. Noor Ali Chagani also holds B.S Computer Engineering (2004) from Sir Syed University of Engineering, Pakistan. My work revolves around the concept of absence of home. In most of my work I found my self in search of small piece of land, to whome I can call mine. Being a brocken home child I feel very close to the idea of home, family and personal space. My interest towords architecture is also evident in my work. Bricks hold a significant place in my work, for me bricks represents all my feelings, it act as a building uint of my dreams. Their small size makes them personal to me. They act as a transforming uint in the transformation of a miniature painters thoughts in to a sculpture. Their repetitive use refers to the idea of building up a miniature painting with thousands of tiny brush strokes.
Pixels of my portrait, 2011 Terracotta bricks, cast iron and rubber solution 51 x 20 x 1 inches
If milk was all you needed, 2013 Paper, glass, emulsion, cloth, silicon and acrylic 16 x 16 Inches Sahyr Sayed Sahyr Sayed (b. 1986) graduated from the National College of Arts in Lahore in 2012. She has experimented with the genre of Traditional Miniature Painting and has evolved new ways of formally making a miniature painting. Sayed continues to exhibit her work. She currently lives in Islamabad and works at Satrang Art Gallery. Miniature or the little things have fascinated me for as long as I can remember. Investigating my need to maintain a miniature dollhouse I realized that it is not just the fascination with the scale that keeps me involved in this activity, the dollhouse is an escape, a space where no desire is unfulfilled. I therefore chose to develop my interest in the dollhouse and to use the domestic and domesticity to communicate the absence of a cozy family home.
A recipe for disaster, 2013 Swing seats wrapped in upholstery 11 x 11.5 x 2 inches
Untitled II, 2013 Mixed media on wood 11.8 x 18.5 x 1.4 inches Tahir Ali Tahir Ali (b.1986) graduated with Honours from the National College of Arts Lahore in 2012. His work is created by gestures, expressive lines and intuitive colour choices. It is not an observational record, but contains elements of an emotional experience in nature. His work has been exhibited extensively within Pakistan and is part of the US embassy’s permanent collection in Pakistan. This work has evolved from photographs that I took of landscapes and cityscapes. I inverted their colours, and it changed the mood of the photograph entirely - from an everyday typical scene they transformed into dark, gloomy, chaotic images that reflected unrest and unease. These works still retain a similar feeling of this previous work. Forms and rhythm play an active role in my process, and subtle palettes of colour create a moving and restless balance. The act of assembling, selecting and colleting found objects and mediums develops my final image. The paintings play with the 2 dimensionality of a canvas - some explore and enhance the flatness of the surface, while others create an illusion of 3 dimensional depths through multiple layering, imagination and mark making. There are familiar objects and things present in the imagery, accompanied by a simultaneous feeling that dismisses their recognition.
Untitled, 2013 Mixed media on wood 11.8 x 18.5 x 1.4 inches
Satrang Gallery Asma Rashid Khan- Director Mamoona Riaz- Gallery Registrar Sahyr Sayed- Gallery Assistant
satrang.ish@serena.com.pk |
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