That… Which Binds Us

Although incorporating symbols and imagery that are easily identifiable to the local audience, the six artists in the show depict the everyday environment that can represent virtually any locale in the world. Utilising the extensive knowledge of international art history that they have acquired while studying abroad or in cities that serve as cosmopolitan crossroads of thought, they rely on a bold mix of influences.

The selected works in ‘That…Which Binds Us’ provide an unprecedented look into some of the compelling approaches that artists have adopted in their efforts to address a destabilised reality.
The selection of artists in this show highlights artists who are changing the face of mainstream art. These up-and-coming artists are offering daring new styles that range from geometric abstraction to renewed figuration, presenting subjects and techniques that are expected to have longstanding effects on local trends. They demonstrate a continued commitment to the exploration of their surroundings as they seek to expand aesthetic horizons, making up a contrasting, albeit equally important facet of art in Pakistan. Using cutting-edge techniques, they’ve produced highly introspective works, many of which focus on existentialist questions and their concurrent manifestations. Although not one subject matter dominates the creative output of these artists, the content of work on show has been heavily influenced by their immediate environment.

Concurrently, they look at the process of altering ‘appearances’ in order to conform to a particular type of branding. In the series of works here, the artists have subverted our understanding of beauty through a visual assault on consumerism, illustrating the extreme outcome of subjecting oneself to the endless scrutiny of an image-obsessed culture. A subset of this split from previous traditions is a revitalisation of abstract art among these practitioners. With meditations on uniformity, space, color and the architectonics alongside precise applications of geometric principles, they renew the basic components with a contemporary appeal.

That this exhibition brings together a diverse group of artists speaks of a lineage of culture that has evolved despite all odds. At the helm of this new history these artists have insisted on charting the intersections of art and society and environment.

Aasim Akhtar