Thinking Big

Shahana Rajani

The group exhibition at VM Art Gallery titled ‘Size Does Matter’ was conceived with the hopes of being new, experimental and provocative. Its theme is simple and as the title suggests, rather self-explanatory: to present works which are detailed yet larger than life. It is the collective reaction of the four participating artists – Adeel uz Zafar, Munawar Ali Syed, Asad Hussain and Naseer Ahmed Bhurgri – against the homogenising trend in contemporary art of producing small scale works, which are too often exhibited in overcrowded displays. 

The main space of the gallery displays four works which are spaced out from each other so that the viewer is allowed to engage with each on its own terms. The simplest yet most effective work is by far Adeel uz Zafar’s engraved diptych The Lion at Rest. While the other artists seem to digress from the central theme of scale, Adeel makes most of the opportunity by depicting a donkey-shaped toy wrapped in gauze on a colossal scale. The two life-size sketches of the toy displayed in the adjoining room allow the viewer to compare the vast differences in impact due to variations in scale hence justifying the statement ‘Size Does Matter’. The artist explains that on a more subconscious level the piece also works as a social commentary, symbolising people who wrap themselves up in many layers to hide their real circumstances. However the gauze wrappings seem to conceal emptiness rather than real matter, playing with the idea of identity and disenfranchisement and underscoring our fear that beneath our many superficial layers, there is no genuine substance inside. 

Munawar Ali Syed explains that his diptych titled Where lies our Soul? is ‘a personal commentary on the dizzying pace of urban lifestyles where we often lose connection with our spiritual self.’ His canvas mirrors the visual bombardment that we experience in today’s world by agents that promote commercialism and materialism. Using white chalk on black canvas he draws overlapping outlines of ‘objects of desire’ such as cell phones, cars and fashion accessories. Within this puzzle of interconnected images, Munawar places minuscule cut-out images of himself, serving as a comment on our enslavement. This vast contrast in scale also symbolises our shrinking individuality and identity within ever-increasing social stigmas and pressures. Unlike Adeel’s work, in which the viewer can stand back and be overwhelmed by the scale, Munawar’s work is more engaging as the viewer needs to get up close to the surface in order to make out the tiny images. 

Passing on to Asad Hussain’s painting titled Arsenal, the viewer is confronted with five enormous babies painted on golden-coloured leatherette who are mesmerised by a flock of swarming birds in the upper right corner. These helpless children symbolise a powerless, vulnerable nation and the fact that they are watching a spectacle is representative of our tv media culture. The artist explains that the scene represents the current affairs of the county; of how we are shown a dazzling picture and promised great things while being rendered virtually powerless. The babies satirise the double helplessness of Pakistani citizens, the first to change political events and the second to resist the spectacle. In addition to the birds, the bleeding sky is filled with planes, which seems to signify our conspiracy theory attitude where nothing in politics is what it seems. 

Naseer Ahmed Bhurgri’s triptych titled Illusion of reality stands apart from the previous three works as it is devoid of socio-political content. The artist explains that his primary concern is not with any preconceived notions of the visual outcome but with the process of making sensitive marks on a clean surface, immersing himself in the rhythm of lines which result in the creation of a soft, undulating texture. In his words, the work is not about the illusion created but it is foremost an exercise in patience: ‘it is about the process of making art’. The lower corner shows the face of a man, above which the artist has sketched a floating furry texture which forms a flower in the centre, perhaps emphasising the connection between man and nature or showing how our imagination can give the illusion of reality. However, there is too much negative space in the work, and although the medium of graphite is used with remarkable subtlety there is not enough impact on the viewer despite the use of the large scale.   

A non-commercial venture, this exhibition provides audiences with an experience and a visual treat that is engaging but only somewhat engulfing and is meant to inspire curators and galleries to provide opportunities to artists to experiment on a larger scale. It showcases much variety since all the artists use different mediums and supports, and deal with entirely different concepts, the only common element being size. The title of the exhibition, ‘Size does matter’ is an obvious reference to male bravado, and therefore perhaps it represents an effort to make masculine art in opposition to the miniscule, almost domestic scale of neo-miniaturists.

Karachi, the city of conflicts and collisions, has always had an incredible streak of resilience, defying homogenisation and categorisation; therefore it is no surprise that it provided these artists a platform to rebel against the hype of the neo-miniature movement and the preference it has created for smaller works by using massive scale. Although the concept behind the exhibition is indeed commendable, most works fail to engage sufficiently with the element of size and are too conceptual, hindering the sense of awe which one expects to accompany the large scale. Contemporary miniature paintings have the capacity to be just as engaging as Munawar or Naseer’s works, leaving us wondering whether size really does matter.