Sunday, April 18, 2010
Karachi: An exhibition of works titled ‘Spirituality’ by world-renowned British-Persian artist Mohsen Keiany is being held at the ArtScene Gallery.
The pieces are inspired by the artist’s Persian background and the country’s rich historical and Islamic heritage. The exhibit would continue until May 24.
Keiany states he is greatly inspired by traditional Persian miniature paintings and observing his work one must admit that it echoes his love for Persian philosophy and spirituality.
Painting for Keiany is a form of meditation; he never plans, designs or makes sketches for any of his paintings. He merely creates textures on the canvas and from that figures, trees, landscapes and animals are born.
He states that an artist must be proud of his own work and should not copy from others. His pieces include horses, goats and characters playing music and dancing. Men and women dressed in traditional Sufi clothes playing instruments like the daf and the flute, seemingly in a trance.
He paints using primary colours as a symbol of purity that alludes to how the old masters used to cleanse themselves he states. The colours are reminiscent of the tiles and stained-glass windows in Persian architecture.
He states that his use of warm and hot hues is a representation of the sunny climate of the Middle East. Some of his pieces also include beautifully rendered poetry by Hafez and Rumi.
One of his paintings titled ‘Shadi’ is a painting of women, horses and poetry; he states that ‘Shadi’ in Urdu means marriage whereas in Persian it refers to any happy event.
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