18. 2010 National Gallery of Pakistan, Islamabad, Photography & Video

Review by Daily Times, Islamabad

Digital prints and photography exhibition: Six world artists bring “Available Light” to NAG 12/02/10

By Mahtab Bashir ISLAMABAD: An international exhibition of contemporary art of digital prints and photography titled “Available Light” by six artists from across the world opened on Thursday at the National Art Gallery (NAG). Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) in collaboration with Lahore Arts Council (LAC) has arranged the show. The artists include Norman Takeuchi, Sandra Hawkins, Cecile Boucher from Canada, Hans Joerg Mettler from the USA, Sylvia Klein from Holland and Lucy Arai from Japan. Takeuchi, Hawkins, and Boucher have combined photographic imagery with other media, including painting, handwriting, and mapmaking.  Mettler and Hawkins have animated questions of time and location in their romantic videos. Hawkins’ subject is natural light on greenery and rushing water, whereas Mettler, in a 12-minute video loop, has built an environment of elevated trains and their passengers. Klein’s photographs are reflective, even refractive, of history and known places. Arais Sashiko’s mixed media work- reproduced photographically for this exhibition- presents the viewers with wall-mounted epiphanies of light. According to Maureen Korp, curator of the exhibition, Available Light is a photographer’s term for using neither flash nor studio lights. The photographer works with what the human eye sees. The photographer’s medium- digital or film- is always light. The word “photograph” means “drawing with light,” she added. She said the work of these artists was derived from post-World War II histories of immigration, dislocation, relocation, displacement, and the labels of citizenship. The artists’ own stories are Japanese, European, Canadian and American, said Korp. Biography is not the point of the artist’s work. Light is the reason artists make art, she said. Speaking to Daily Times, PNCA DG Tauqir A Nasir said it was an international exhibition featuring artists from around the world. PNCA invited these artists’ works for two reasons. Firstly, to display their innovative work, travelling all the way from Europe, the USA, Canada and Japan to Pakistan to promote a soft image of the country. Secondly, it would help our youth watch the work of foreign artists and learn emerging trends in the world of art, Nasir said.

Available Light
Friday, February 12, 2010
By Schezee Zaidi, Islamabad

The exhibition titled “Available Light,” opening at the National Art Gallery here on Thursday, showcases a dynamic portrayal of landscapes and lives by six artists in a vibrant blend of contemporary mediums and creative metaphors.

Put together by Dr Maureen Korp, the exhibition features the works of internationally famed artists Lucy Arai, Cecile Boucher, Sandra Hawkins, Sylvia Klein, Hans Joerg Mettler and Norman Takeuchi. The works on display showcase a meditative exposure of light and thoughts, captured by the artists. Each silent moment tells the tale of ages, of lives lived, of times gone by.

The works displayed at the exhibition verify that there are times in history when new technologies galvanize artists into action that takes them across the boundaries of undiscovered boondocks, all untouched, unexplored, and waiting for the artist to uncover their inner secrets.

Organized jointly by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) and the Lahore Arts Council, the exhibition offers local art connoisseurs an opportunity to gain international exposure to the contemporary art world.

Sharing his thoughts on the exhibition, PNCA Director General Tauqeer Nasir said that it is indeed a unique exposure to new techniques and newer concepts of creative synergy. He described the artworks put on display as an inspirational anecdote of illustrative experimentation, resulting in a vibrant depiction of art in varied dimensions.

Matching the title, the works on display are narratives of computer- and digital-based experimentation in the sphere of photography, as ‘Available Light’ is also a photographer’s term. All artists have expressed, through their works, the concerns they share about location, time, and available light.

In the photomontage of Norman Takeuchi, Sandra Hawkins, and Cecile Boucher, the artists used photographic imagery alongside other media, such as painting, handwriting, and map-making. Sylvia Klein and Lucy Arai present works meditated through time, reflective and even refractive of history and known places. Hans Joerg Mettler and Sandra Hawkins further animate the questions of time and location in their short romantic videos. Hawkins subject is natural light on greenery and rushing waters, whereas Mettler looks at the urban and built-in environment of elevated trains and passengers.

The “Available Light” exhibition of multimedia photo-based artworks by six artists was curated by Dr. Maureen Korp, a professor at Beaconhouse National University in Lahore. After a successful run at the Alhamra Gallery in Lahore, the exhibition travelled to the National Gallery in Islamabad, Pakistan. The artworks by Sandra Hawkins featured in both exhibitions were acquired for the National Gallery Collection.