Art for Artist Qutub Rind and Contemporaries

Art is the language beyond the words and the life of an artist is a journey of getting experience and empiricism from thoughts, words, and actions of common life to the canvas. An artist always tries for the constant refinement and evolvement to learn new lessons and techniques for bringing forth the greatest potential but it comes to end when artist ‘s life cause a death and the art which has to rise to its zenith of spiritual prestige remain unseen and the consciousness bulging into the future would stop.

0 Art Space organized a group exhibition titled Art for Artist Qutub Rind and Contemporaries as a telethon to succor the blood and brood on 12^th October 2018. The Pakistani Art world adieu the young, sedulous, and competent miniature artist, Qutub Rind; assassinated in Lahore a few months before who was ready to experience a career renaissance and had turned himself to be an artist from polytechnic Civil engineer after taking the inspirational and persuasive art lessons from his Master, Amaan ul Allah Laghari, the owner of Mehran Painter Shop in Jacobabad. It is rightly said:

Death is not something you get over. It’s the rip that exposes life in a before and after chasm, and all you can do is try to exist as best you can in the after.

Qutub’s work depends on his own experiences which look for a voice to fit his own time, imagining scenarios of art, culture, and craft by feeling the imagined world and the external one meeting in objects. The use of the highly refined technique of stencils, cutting dots to make the college and extracted light and dark tone figures by using the indigenous material chamakpatti or Reflective Tape on wasli is showing the localization and uniqueness of medium. A calculated arrangement and the riveting combination of coloured dots covered the entire Wasli paper or lasani board to harmonize the overall size of the painting swirls before eyes and perceived as a single hue. Some of his work define the form of using lines and bathed all objects in an intense light.

As part of the feudal milieu, his work lay hold on the weapons as one of the most fascinating objects to symbolize the contextual connotations which are made not only for combat and hunting but also for ceremonial activities and are used as currency. The weapons are blessed in various ritual ceremonies and he observed it as the part of fostering innovative artistic expression and the process of creation. In his artworks weapons have been displayed as a harmless and unhazardous object, which are used for major purchases of land or animals or to signify a transfer of wealth at major events, such as a birth, marriage, or death in Baloch culture.

Balochi embroidery with rich colour palette from Mughal art directly point out the exquisite dresses and rugs of the culture which serves as an ethnic marker in his work with colourful and distinct patterns unveil the aesthetic style in a new and modern way that reflect the peace, harmony, and consistency and present him as a heritage enthusiast. The contemporary art of Qutub preferred periphery with Baloch people, land and environment. The elegant artwork pieces feature beautiful depictions that honour a variety of folks’ roles in the society.  Many of his artworks have traditional Balochi and Sindhi language titles like Ghisani Lave Mazaniya Garinda, Theraaneen dekian, Indigo aanu, Gaarineen pholagh, Nandhpin meen hour jo raand which reflect the cultural and aesthetic style of the region.

The gallery displays the artworks on two separate floors. Many national and international artists including Irfan Gul Dehri (Curator), R.M. Naeem, Adeel uz Zafar, Abdul Jabbar Gul, Sadaf Naeem, Noor Ali chagani, Ghulam Hussain, Rizwan Ali, Farrukh Adnan, Faiz Supro, Warda Naeem Bukhari, kashif mangi, Hamid Ali Hanbhi, Zainab Mehmood  and so on has artfully skirted the psychic bliss to create a new contemporary category entirely of its own. Every corner of the gallery was giving the sense of awe and the presence of every Individual belonging to the art field set an emotional touch of expressiveness and the coalition of the Art world. According to James Dean:

If a man can bridge the gap between life and death, if he can live on after he’s dead, then maybe he was a great man.

Many dreams would be unfulfilled many tasks would be undone. The only thing for which he covered a thousand miles in search of fecund path, was the art. The deceased artist who left nothing behind except his artistic legacies. He elevated the thought which dwells in the universe of creativity and made an indirect correlation between one’s immorality and the art of imagination and creation. In Qutub’s life art brought the opportunity to be authentic and expressive with both his divinity and human nature which will be eternal.