The 4th annual Pakistan Art Forum Collectors’ Soiree opened this week at the Pakistan Art Forum Gallery and Sunday Magazine was given an exclusive tour at the preview night of the evening. The show has over the years become a much sought-after art event in the calendars of the collectors and is known for finding some incredible bespoke pieces of art. This year was no different, with an impressive line-up of 20 local and international artists, the soiree boasted a stunningly curated collection of art by curator Imtisal Zafar. We go over some of our top picks from this year’s Colelctors’ Soiree
Ahmer Farooq for Pink Ribbon: To mark the breast cancer awareness month, artist Ahmer Farooq partnered up with the Pink Ribbon foundation to create artworks, the sale of which will be donated to raise funds for breast cancer patients. We are all for art for a cause, and there is nothing better to support this month than the plight of the Pink Ribbon foundation. To further highlight his point Ahmer had a conversational performance with a model wearing a bra made out of the print of his painting, stationed in front of his works.
Fahim Rao: Fahim Rao’s satirical bronze sculpture of the ‘Murgha’ – a common punishment in the educational institutes in rural Pakistan was something that was unique and caught our eye. Perched on a white pedestal, the sculpture was beautifully crafted and showed the skill of the artist
Faizan Riedinger: Faizan Riedinger is a rising star from Karachi who has been turning heads with his unique acrylics on canvas contemporary calligraphic pieces. At the show he had three pieces displayed which used various shades of the same family of colors to create form and shadow and a clever use of breaks in the sequencing of the text to give the effect of folds and curves
Fraz Mateen: This was one of our favorite works from the show! Fraz Mateen’s ‘Tree of Knowledge’ series, at first looked like tree trunks perched on a pedestal. On closer inspection, we were amazed to find out that they were made out of carved and painted paper. Brilliant job done by the artist.
Hussain Jamil: Artist Hussain Jamil’s works have been making the rounds in various social establishments – be it restaurants, cafes or designer outlets. At the Soiree, Jamil had three stainless steel installations that would make for great outdoor or indoor wall sculptures
Javier Arizabalo (Spain): Javier Arizabalo is a hyper realist master painter from Spain and has previously showcased with Pakistan Art Forum. He returns this year with another mind-blowing painting of a man that blurred all lines between photography & painting. The skin-tone composition, the shadow work, the light reflection, the brush strokes – everything about this painting showcased why Javier is one of the most popular artists around the world and has been an IBEX Master
Maira Hashmi: Maira Hashmi’s cement sculptures focus on women empowerment and the female agency in social spaces. Her work is depicting challenging of established social norms for women and to raise awareness about reproductive rights and social agency of women.
Marwat Hidayat: Marwat focuses on human form and posture and creates realistic sketches and sculpture with near-life detail. At the show he had two sketches of arms and legs and a stunning sculpture of feet that we were treading across a muddy ground
Moushe: Jewelry artist Nabiha Yousaf hails from Karachi and her brand Moushe showcased the artist’s contemporary take on jewelry design. The pieces were customizable and unique I their design work, involving geometric patterns and every day articels like jigsaw puzzle and dice, for example
Noman Siddiqui: Another artist from Karachi, Noman’s pop-art inspired work delves into the areas of socio-political commentary. One of the works, ‘Wardi ki Game’ was the bust of a dog, whose mouth was tied that really captured our attention as soon as we walked into the show
Sabir Ali Talpur: Hailing from flood effected areas of interior Sindh, Sabir’s unique optical illusions were painted laboriously using the medium of acrylics on canvas. One was immediately taken in by the scale of his works and the dizzying effect that they had on a viewer
Salman Hunzai: Salman Hunzai’s gorgeous large-scale miniatures exuded an aura of grandeur and serenity at the same time. His timeless gouache on Wasli depictions of stone sculptures [ay homage to his heritage from the Gilgit Baltistan region, where stone has played a central role in lingual history and culture of the area
Sivasubrumaniam Kajendran (Sri Lanka): The scale of Siva’s works was truly what immediately caught your attention. His work is a recall of painful memories of war and disaster that he has witnessed in his homeland, painting an aesthetic that is markedly different from local artists
Zoya Manan: Zoya Manan’s paintings are a depiction of various narratives of herself, imagining and visualizing herself in various situations or people she encounters. She takes art as therapeutic journey for herself that has helped her cope with her cerebral palsy.
Those were some of our favorite artists from the show. Other honorable mentions also include Ali Karimi’s beautiful sketches of gorgeous women, Fatima Hussain’s equestrian series, Salman Hunzai’s massive miniatures of broken stone statues, Noori Malik’s geometric composition and Eloy Periera’s painting “Prince of the lake’