An article by Mian Naeem

A group of Lahore based painters displayed their works at the Coopera Art Galleries. A majority of the works were landscapes and cityscapes by senior artists.
Rahad Masud painted a beautiful corner of a tidy garden, using pastels on paper. The red flowers, foliage, trees, sky and lush green grass in the foreground were rendered with a keen eye and passion. She has a good command of the medium. The soft visual texture, created by pastels, added to the beauty of the painting.
Zubaida Javed works with broad impressionist strokes in such a way that the objects are diffused and lose their identity. Her palette is rich and she prefers sharp and bright colours.
Saeed Ahmed painted the canal bank. He composed a tree with red flowers in the middle ground. A Mughal-era monument, with distant trees in the background, created a depth of field in the visual. The treatment of the painting reflects a shift of style from the previous works of the artist who has been working as an illustrator for a long time.
Shehla Farooq painted a narrow passage between rows of tall trees in a vertical composition. Reflections in the moving water of the canal show Nazir Ahmed's passion for capturing subtle details in natural scenes.
Abdul Salim illustrated the activity of making brown sugar. A semi-abstract landscape by Dr Khalid Ahmed is rich in colours. Khalid Latif works in details while rendering tree trunks and foliage. Mahmood Alam illustrated a decorated truck and an auto-rickshaw, parked in front of each other. The impression of a fast blowing wind adds life to the landscape by Zulqarnain Haider. Saeed Akhter portrayed a middle aged disabled man with a young boy on his back. Details of the light on the faces and clouds in the background show his skills.
Ghulam Mustafa made good use of the dramatic light and dark while painting a scene from life in the Walled City. Dr Ejaz Anwar created an unusual vertical composition. He illustrated a female figure, standing in a wooden 'jharooka' (balcony) in the Walled City. Pirzada Najam displayed his spontaneously created water colour painting. Mehmood Hassan Rumi contributed with a street scene of the Walled City in water colours. The reflecting light plays a dramatic role while illuminating paintings by Muhammad Javed.
It was a good show except for few average works which were not worth displaying with the paintings made by senior artists.

Author: (c) Mian Naeem
Art Critique
Pakistan.