SPOTLIG One of the paintings at the exhibition. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD JAVAID

upon their exterior persona,she said.

Iqbal Hussain presentedhis signature dancing girlsfrom Lahore's Heera Mandi(Diamond Market) throughvibrant brushstrokes, whilesimultaneously bringingout their vulnerability andstrength. Khan explainedthat Hussain's pieces arestrengthened by his abil-ity to convey what is unsaidand unseen though delicatedetails like the stances andgestures.

Other artists featured areAmna Tariq with her work of struction and Annem Zaidi's figures gives an entirely new figures. The exhibition willwomen caught in cycle of de- idea of seduction in shadow meaning to her unknown continue till May in.

lqbal presented hissignature dancinggirls through vibrantbrushstrokes, whilesimultaneouslybringing outtheir vulnerabilityand strength

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APRIL 21, 2012

Exhibition

For she holds up half the sky10 artists explorefeminism through afresh perspective

0 MAHA MUSSADAQISLAMABAD

A display celebrating the es-sence of women opened atthe Satrang gallery here onFriday. As many as io artistscame together for the showtitled "Women: holding uphalf the sky" to portray var-ied styles and forms of thefemale figure.

In the collection, AhsenAsif's work comprises por-trait in dark colours con-trasted with vibrant redsand blues. "His women havevivid flowers in their hair,their expressions are intelli-gent but peaceful, almost re-signed; their eyes look awayfrom the viewer," said thegallery's curator Zahra Khan.

Amra Khan chose to depictthe darker side of femininity.Her pieces are diverse, someoverflowing with bright op-

ulence, while others almostgruesome in their raw emo-tion, said Khan.

Inspired by Kafka's meta-morphosis for instance,Faten Suleman's work ex-amines the transformationsa women's body goes throughover a period of time.

Sahar Hashmi used thickmedium and bold colours tomake a statement. Her workblocks the viewer from see-ing a form in her art, whichmakes it a classic, said Khan.Amna Ilyas's complicatedpieces elaborate shapes andcontours of a woman veryelegantly.

Sculptures by Isma Hussaingrab the attention of aviewer. White sculpture cov-ered with a sheet and just adark braid sticking out, legsof a woman or even a sculp-ture, deals with physical ap-pearance and body condition.Khan explained that weightissues are explained throughher work. Women are oftentreated differently based