4 Upcoming Pakistani Contemporary Artists to Lookout For

Pakistan is recently flourishing and discovering its intrigues in certain fields of art. As art has always had a prevailing impact on our country and is deeply rooted in our sub continental culture, it is no surprise that aspiring Pakistani artists are making national and global breakthroughs.

Here are a few artists that capture the essence of emerging contemporary art in Pakistan and provide a pleasing visual with intellectually stimulating illustrations.

1      Scherzade Junejo

She derives her inspiration essentially from a variation of dance and theatre technique translating that into a comprehensive observation of human behavior. Including body posture movements and portions of anatomy, the artist delves into a world of contrast and harmony and forms it with her own perceptions. Her work primarily involves studying different human surfaces such as skin, bone, including daily facades transforming the mundane into spectacular, prefers to incorporate extremes of two aspects such as the climax between black and white. Her paintings depict a symmetry of animate and inanimate describing the relationship between the two, exploring different factors and highlighting the contrast as the artist firmly believes that there is no vice without virtue.

2. Mina Mohsin

This artist believes in experimenting with excessive amounts of colour creating a visual impact that involves a refreshing stroke of abstract colour patterns to evoke both fascination as opposed to repulsion. The artist describes her approach as inarticulate but successful in portraying a strong sense of being.

3. Salman Toor

Graduating from Pratt University in Brooklyn, New York with an MFA in fine arts with an addition of doing multiple group show exhibitions ranging from Dubai, New York, Karachi and Lahore. Cultural lore or traditional influences can be viewed as an important part of his artwork. He narrates the story of the relationship between the elite and plebeians, the conflict of lifestyles and presenting the striking the discord whilst managing to organise subtle similarities in his somewhat chaotic illustrations. His vision is to display the complex diversity amid sub continental pop culture and historical influences of western and European ideals.



 

4. Dua Abbas

A visual artist and writer who is based in Lahore. Her work is a focus of portraying female figures which play a strong role (protagonist) in her storytelling experience. The paintings have an eerie and melancholic vibe but the narrations are anything but morbid rather thought provoking and highly perceptive. She feels prompted to view medieval religious iconography, the unintended humor in many medieval paintings are suited to expressing the ennui that seems to define the lives of the girls around her. The medieval paintings add grandeur to routine acts also alluding the domestic apotheosis.