| ISLAMABAD: Exhibition of Abid Hasans painting titled Tantalising Clues opens today (Saturday) at Gallery 6. Abid Hasan, a graduate from Karachi School of Art (KSA), has used gold leaf for painting halos, crowns, thrones and background areas. Though gold paint has replaced the use of gold leaf in paintings but Abid revived the use of gold and silver leafs. A visiting faculty member at KSA for drawing classes, Abid works as an interior designer and a professional painter. He has worked with renowned painter Ahmed Khan in Lahore, where he learnt to play with effects of chemicals on gold and silver leafs. Over a decade, he has been experimenting and using this chemical process to create his paintings. The artist covers imported plywood or sometimes canvas with a thin layer of gold or silver leafs. He blocks out certain areas by wax or paper, depending on the texture and imagery he wants to create, and then apply oxidizing chemicals. This results in sensitive surfaces with interesting textures. Following this, paints are applied in a number of ways to finish the painting. Abids paintings strongly reflect an attempt of a bright, vibrant but a hungry soul seeking a way to be heard. The viewers speak of wonderful tantalising clues visually demonstrating the joyful spirit. They are moved by his artwork, but they may not really know why. It has something to do with their soul being shaken, gently or violently, into a specific awareness. It is a truly wonderful thing to be touched ... |
