What Stories Does Mughees Riaz Paint in ‘Dil Dariya’ at the May 2025 Exhibition, Ejaz Art Gallery?
When you step into Ejaz Art Gallery this May, you’ll find yourself immersed in a world where every brushstroke whispers a story, and every canvas becomes a window into the soul of Lahore. The “Dil Dariya” exhibition by renowned paint artist Mughees Riaz isn’t just an art show—it’s a living journey through memory, heritage, and the poetry of ordinary life.
A Tapestry Woven from Heritage
Mughees Riaz comes from a lineage where art runs deep in the blood, connecting generations through creativity, talent, and cultural contribution. His family tree is rich with artistic achievement and innovation, beginning with his great-uncle Azad—a legendary figure celebrated for his hand-painted film posters that once adorned cinema facades across Pakistan, and for his skill in capturing the likenesses of national leaders such as Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Fatima Jinnah in striking, iconic portraits. The artistic flame was further fueled by Mughees’s father, Mehmud Khalid Riaz, a distinguished graduate of the National College of Arts (NCA), whose expertise in printing and photography set new standards for creative excellence. Under his guidance, Mughees was exposed not only to technical mastery but also to the philosophy of visual storytelling and the importance of documenting cultural history through art.
Creativity is a treasured tradition in the Riaz family, passed down and reinvented with each generation, and extending even beyond immediate relatives to other accomplished artists and designers. Yet, despite this extraordinary legacy, the “Dil Dariya” exhibition marks a turning point for Mughees Riaz himself. For the first time, audiences have the opportunity to intimately trace the roots, influences, and inspirations that have shaped Mughees’s evolving vision. Through this collection, viewers are invited to witness not just the results of inherited skill, but the journey of an artist forging his own unique path—blending tradition with personal experience, and honoring his heritage while continually pushing the boundaries of creative expression.
Painting the Unseen Stories of Lahore
So, what stories does Mughees Riaz paint in “Dil Dariya”?
His canvases come alive with the subtle beauty, quiet drama, and layered emotions of daily life in Pakistan—especially in the vibrant heart of Lahore. Mughees’s work often features buffaloes grazing peacefully along the riverbanks, crows observing the world with a sense of mystery, and ordinary people—girls in burqas, boys with beards—captured with remarkable dignity and compassion. Through his skilled brushwork, these scenes become more than just moments; they transform into narratives that celebrate the rhythms of rural and urban life, the connections between nature and humanity, and the timeless rituals that give meaning to community. Each painting is an invitation to pause, reflect, and appreciate the unique character and enduring spirit of the land and its people.
Where Realism Meets Abstraction
Mughees’s artistic philosophy masterfully dissolves the traditional boundaries between realism and abstraction, inviting viewers to see both not as opposites but as complementary facets of the same profound reality. For him, these approaches are simply different languages for expressing a deeper truth about the world and our experience of it. In “Dil Dariya,” this philosophy comes vividly to life: morning light is not merely depicted but seems to melt seamlessly into pools of color, bathing the canvas in atmosphere and mood. Familiar shapes—like buffaloes, birds, and riverbanks—take on a dreamlike quality, blurring the line between the tangible and the imagined. Each painting is layered not just with pigments, but with emotion, memory, and sensation, so that feeling seems to hover between every brushstroke.
Through this delicate balance, Mughees’s art becomes a continuous dialogue between the physical world and the internal landscape of the heart and mind. His work gently reminds us that our reality is far richer than what we simply see; it is imbued with both clarity and mystery, precision and poetry. Every canvas draws the viewer into a meditative space, where light, color, and form are not fixed, but in constant, harmonious motion—inviting us to experience the infinite ways in which reality can be perceived and felt.
Motifs with Meaning: The Sun, the Buffalo, and the Crow
Certain motifs reappear throughout Mughees’s work. The sun, for example, is a constant presence, rising in each painting with new meaning—never monotonous, always signaling renewal and infinite possibilities. The humble buffalo and the ever-watchful crow, creatures often ignored in urban life, become poetic symbols of endurance, spirit, and connection to the land.
An Invitation to See With New Eyes
For Mughees, art is about authenticity. He believes that if you live in Pakistan, your art should speak of your social and cultural reality—without pretension. That’s why every painting in “Dil Dariya” is sincere, rooted, and profoundly relatable. Whether you are an art lover, a student of culture, or just someone searching for beauty in the everyday, this exhibition will invite you to see with new eyes.
The Ongoing Journey
“Dil Dariya” isn’t a collection with a fixed ending; it’s a reflection of Mughees Riaz’s view that art is an infinite journey. “You build upon it layer by layer,” he says. “There is no end, and no beginning—it is all infinity.” Each story on his canvas is an invitation to join that journey, to pause and reflect on the beauty woven through our shared experiences.
If you haven’t visited yet, “Dil Dariya” runs from May 22 to June 10, 2025, at Ejaz Art Gallery. Don’t miss this unique chance to witness the stories, the spirit, and the soulful art of Mughees Riaz.