Pakistan Art Forum inaugurated its third annual show, Stars of Tomorrow 2024 with an impressive ensemble of 28 artists from all across Pakistan. The show has quickly become the gallery’s most sought-after show, with an emphasis on diversity and a focus on bringing visibility to emerging artists from remote areas of Pakistan and religious minorities. We examine the works of each of these artists briefly that were displayed at the show.
Aimen Kathia:
The serene pastel pink palette of Aimen Kathia’s works have an almost calming effect. Her playful paintings explore realms of joy, innocence and celebration. Central to her theme is a baby lamb that clearly depicts childhood affection that children often develop with baby animals. Contrasted with emotions of underlying emotions of longing and anticipation shedding light on complex human emotional spectrum
Aleena Khizran:
Aleena’s works focus on abstract forms with a focus on hybridization. She uses print making techniques of line etching, photo etching and aquatint to create various formations for her compositions
Amna Siddiq:
Amna Siddiq is a miniature artist hailing from Kinnaird College Lahore. Her work features vintage home spaces that evoke nostalgia, painted beautifully in a circular panoramic view from a camera lens
Areej Haider Chishti:
Hailing from Punjab University, Areej uses bold geometric lines & shapes to create intricate patterns that are vibrant. Some of her work has fluid forms that allude to the transient human nature.
Durab Munir:
Darab Munir’s stunning marble sculptures are a breath of fresh air in the sculpting world amongst a dizzying sea of fiberglass sculptures that are commonplace. His work focuses on classical art and techniques from the Renaissance period of sculpting, procuring beautiful marble from areas like Ziarat. This young artist has a bright future ahead!
Fatima Ateeq:
Fatima’s black monochrome canvases have a sense of somber to them. Her work is shrouded in melancholy of the passing of a loved one, with beautifully painted drapes of fabric. Juxtaposed by a delicate tiny white feather painted in white, in an otherwise all-black scape that grips you on viewing.
Fatima Kaleem:
Fatima Kaleem’s nimble self-portraits are subtle and conversational. In her own words “My work courses through the recesses of the world inside the mind, consisting of everyone I’ve ever met, known or thought of. each work is a page from a visual diary, each modifying and revealing a new understanding of the self”
Fiza Tanveer:
Fiza’s work is about memories. The paintings are created as large pixels, alluding to the blur of the memory, when the viewer steps back a little bit the whole image becomes clearer. An alternative way to see her work is by squinting one’s eyes
Ghaffar Mesih:
Ghaffar is a truck artist by training who enrolled at BNU to finesse his art practice to a more contemporary style. The Christian symbology in his work is evident, referring to his background. He beautifully uses techniques common in truck art to create contemporary works that are eye-catching
Hamza Khan Sherwani:
Hamza’s striking artwork are these vibrant frames that hoist wooden planks that are painted in vibrant colors. One can’t help but get absorbed in discovering pop culture symbology present through out his work. The graffiti-styled works seeks to break barriers and has a general theme of diversity and inclusivity evident through out
Haider Ali Tiwana:
Hailing from a family of polo players, Haider has been interested in horses from an early age. His hyper realistic depictions of horses in their majestic beauty captivate the viewer, with three large scale works on display.
Imran Gul:
Another hyper realist artist hailing from NCA Lahore, Imran Gul is a sketch artist who represents marginalized communities that are every day dealing with alienation and oppression. Sketching only male figures in his work, Imran highlights the gender-freedom inequality in our society and the power dynamics at play
Jawad Hassan:
As you walk into the exhibition, you see a wall of multi-colored faces of that are protruding out of a vertical wall. Upon close inspection you realize these are sculptures of young school boys with different attires and facial expressions. Jawad tells us that these are faces of his class mates from childhood and he relives his past by reconstructing these faces from memory
Maha Bint-e-Abid:
As you walk further down the exhibition, there is a round circular chandelier suspended in the foyer area of the gallery. The chandelier is an interactive art installation, whereby you stand ‘inside’ the ring and view the painted work on the internal wall of the chandelier. The artist is interested in exploring the transparency of our living spaces in today’s digital age, alluding to a lack of privacy owing to all the technology at hand
Maha Omer:
Maha’s dual-paintings are super fun to experience in person. Her miniature-inspired painting changes as you go from left to right of the painting, often complementing and completing one image with another. Her work almost acquires an interactive sculptural quality with the image moving with the viewer
Misbah Qasim:
Misbah paints repetitive staircases, which represent our spiritual journey in life. Her work is in different shades of blue, which the artist says represents a significant position in her religious and artistic practice. One of her most striking pieces is an 8 feet tall blue pyramid, with a gold leaf tip.
Moin Rehman:
Moin Rehman’s pen and colored pencil drawings give a surreal 3D effect. He conjures up objects from visual memory, in the process giving them a surreal landscape. His current work explores themes of voyage and discovery and the artifacts used are relics that one would expect out of a pirate movie
Mubashir Qayyum:
Hailing from Sargodha, Mubashir is a fantasy artist who paints himself in different fantasy settings. Reimagining himself as the titular character in each painting, he composes striking canvases where he has depicted himself as mythical creatures such as a centaur, a vampire, Hades and an angel amongst others
Nosheen Sadiq:
Nosheen’s work explores the human body in its natural form, giving particular emphasis on skin color and texture. Her area of interest is women figures in her work, shedding light on breaking barriers in a conservative society.
Sabeela Iqbal:
As you walk through the exhibition into the ‘abstract art area’, you can’t help but be immediately fixated on giant red canvases that adorn one entire wall of the gallery. Sabeela’s skill is evident in her manipulation of the red color via her bold strokes on the canvas, definitely making for statement pieces in any space they are displayed
Sana Fatima:
Sana Fatima’s work revolves around drapery. Her large canvases depict red cloth draped around women figures, symbolizing fear and anxiety
Sheva Ram Jogi:
Sheva’s hypnotic works are riveting and created using masking tape and acrylics. He is interested in exploring lines and color and how they interplay to create optical illusions.
Shahzad Baloch:
Another young artist hailing from Karachi, Shahzad paints nostalgic images from memory. These are some times from his childhood and sometimes recent past. The work seems to have a certain tint of color that gives it a vintage effect
Sidra Saleem:
Sidra Saleem’s playful works are depicted in painting and sculpture. The clowns that she paints are reflective of herself as well as breaking away from the seriousness of her life around her
Tahir Zaman:
Hailing from Chitral, Tahir captures the beauty of nature in his surroundings. He layers
His canvas with vibrant colors and blackens it with candle smoke. Then he scratches the surface to reveal stunning abstract visuals that could be reminiscent of cosmic-scapes
Talha Shams:
Talha’s work focuses on interaction and alchemy of color. His work evokes feelings of celebration and joy, playing with color composition, movement, and form.
Tehseen Khan:
Tehseen’s work focuses on a woman figure that is brought up with rich Eastern norms and values in a society that rejects Western influence. Speaking of personal struggle with her family and reasoning with them that wearing Western clothes does not take a person away from their core Eastern values, only enriches them
Zarnaab Baloch:
An extremely talented painter from Karachi, Zarnaab’s work is a series of self-portraits depicting struggles of trying to fit into her surroundings but failing miserably. Her realist imagery is unique in the way she paints skin color. No wonder she was sold out before the show even began
