Name: Bilal Ahmed

Subject: History of Art, Design and Architecture

Instructor: Zeerak Ahmed

Date: 28th February,2020.

Assignment: Response paper for exhibition study titled “Father Figure-South Asian art through the
Eyes of Wahab Jaffer”

Portrait(1991), Tassaduq Sohail, Oil on board, 4.3×3.4in, 10.9×8.6 cm.

 Untitled(1987), Gulgee, Oil on Canvas, 10.6×10.6in, 26.9×26.9cm.

This response paper is written to analyse the works exhibited at VM gallery Rangoonwala, entitled
Father Figure-South Asian Art through the Eyes of Wahab Jaffer. After thoroughly examining each art
piece, the following two have been shortlisted to examine and analyse for this paper.

Both the paintings, calibrated by artists Tassaduq Sohail and Ismail Gulgee, are abstract
expressionism pieces. Both artists have a unique style of exhibiting their emotions through paint and
developing a work of art through their versatile impressionist techniques. Both artists have used the
medium to engulf a narrative, a tale of human suffering and longing.

Sohail renders a portrait which has no defined features, adding to the complexity of the visual
interpretation of the painting. The surreal impression provides enough indications to the viewer to
designate the facial features, through their intellect and library of memories . The painting is a
miniature, which was his signature style of working, until he shifted to larger works showcasing
landscapes and life experienced en plain air. The eclectic nature of this impression painting brings to
life an ambiguity , a natural digression from the usual perspective driven out of art. It transfixes
ones imagination, forming a flawless image from an acquired distant that appears to be diminishing
into strokes of thickened paint, as one draws closer to the painting. The loose brushstrokes and use
of bold colours add to the contrast required by the artist ,to draw maximum attention to the subject,
construing to an enigmatic beauty being preserved by the artist's imagination.

On the contrary, Gulgee shifts further in his execution of abstraction in art, by prepositioning a
balance between calligraphy, expressionism and modernized portraiture. From an initial glance, the
painting appears to be a canvas slathered with layers of paint, exuberantly splashed over with a
 readily active hand.1 However, up on close inspection, the forms begging to take shape and the eye
begins to catch the contours of various brides, writings and even a face in the middle of these
strokes. Such was the excellence of Gulgee’s assimilation of thought, technique and interaction with
the art piece.

The curation to these pieces under the title of Father Figures engages the spectator within an
ideology pronounced by each artist at display. The core essence of each piece exhibited is the
liberation of classical, confirmed practices of art and penetrate into a newer and wider dimension.
The hope driven out of this liberation encapsulates a zeal, an energy which efficiently profiles the
narrative on display. 2The narrative is that of the leader, the provider and the load bearer of any
hospice, who is considered to be the father figure. Both Gulgee and Sohail, in their personalized
styles, have marked the importance of this ideology. Their works demand an attention, an
understanding and acceptance, which is the fundamentals of displaying affection. Hence, in a more
prolific manner, their works arouse a curiosity to speculate, the sheer existence of man. This helps to
construct the scaffolding for a brighter future in art and also in life.

1
(Ismaili, 2000)

2
(Chiu and Genocchio, 2011)