An article by Shamim Akhter

Mashkoor Raza is an established signature in Figurative Abstract, Non-representational Abstract and Calligraphy painting. Creating transparency with parts of basic forms of square, circle and triangles on his canvases, and abstract images of woman and horse, he shows versatility of handling his subject, paints, and composition. He creates aesthetic transparent impressions through which his images adopt varying shapes. His exceptional energies combined with passion and patience bring forth canvases, papers, and boards decorated with fuming horses and silent nudes on the one hand and cool compositions with harmonious colours, on the other. His calligraphic art is also exceptional. Here he remains cool and calm with his palette creating a feel of antiquity. Although he is loyal to his usual palette, on two or three occasions, he was violent making full use of red. Despite his spontaneity, Mashkoor keeps his fingers on the pulse of his viewers. To keep the dialogue ongoing with the viewer, he makes his canvases sufficiently attractive and then come out with his calling – doses of abstraction displaying his understanding and skill. He does not want to overwhelm the viewer, but make his art palatable. His spatial areas first sprout and then converge in the center and then the gravity dissipates and spreads its energy moving in various directions. Thus the center loses its exclusive importance and shares its significance with other parts. The moment on his abstract canvases is not erratic. It has a solid scheme, which, with its alluring pull, keeps geometrical areas intact. His brush strokes clarify the emerging shapes and contours.

His abstraction is more lyrical than snappish, which makes his art click. There was a time when his canvases were monochromatic. Viewer saw white on white. He got rid of it soon and discovered the beauty of painterly colour handling. He later developed and achieved translucency, which created a kind of delicacy and highlighted poetic qualities.     

Mashkoor Raza's vistas of oozing energies and aesthetics combined with a skill to control his movement came forth in the beginning of 2001, when his works were displayed in a solo show at Clifton Art Gallery on 31 st January` 2001.His colour sense, handling of spaces, and compositions, all put together had brought forth a breath of fresh air on the painting scene of Karachi. What inspired him actually was the solar eclipse. He painted moon and eclipsed sun on his various canvases with oil. His aesthetic maturity created a new symbolic vision. With a highly developed sense of design, form and colour and clarity of vision, his paintings kept moving on breaking the monotony of his style.  

Mashkoor has a long list of awards he received in the past years. The most recent one is the Presidential Award for Pride of Performance. He has more than 20 solo exhibitions to his credit. He has participated in numerous group shows. With the passage of time, his work has taken a few turns for the better. His dark colours are shedding a bit of their darkness turning sedate and somber. Shapes of triangles, squares and rectangles emerge softly and silently in their assigned areas. He defines the space not through linear demarcation but through variation, creating shades in the given colour scheme.

one can view this exhibition online at www.yellowfactor.com

Author: (c) Shamim Akhter
Pakistan.