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 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 USA, Sylvia Klein from Holland and Lucy Arai from Japan. Takeuchi, Hawkins and Boucher have combined photographic imagery with other medias 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 environment of elevated trains and their passengers. Klein’s photographs are reflective, even refractive of history and known places. Arai’s ‘Sashiko’ 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 that means the photographer uses neither flash nor studio lights. The photographer works with what is seen by the human eye. 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 artists’ work. Light is the reason artists make art,” she said. Talking to Daily Times, PNCA DG Tauqir A Nasir said it was an international exhibition by the artists all over the world. “PNCA invited these artists’ works for two reasons. Firstly, to display their innovative work traveling all the way from Europe, USA, Canada and Japan to Pakistan to promote soft image of the country. Secondly, it would help our youth to watch foreign artists’ work 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 the fact that there are times in history when new technologies galvanize artists into activity that takes them across the boundaries of undiscovered boondocks, all untouched, unexplored, and waiting for the artist to explore its inner secrets.

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

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 in computer and digital 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 with the questions of location, time, and available light.

In the photomontage of Norman Takeuchi, Sandra Hawkins, and Ceicile Boucher, the artists used photographic imageries in combination with other media like 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 animate the question of time and location further 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 who was a professor at the Beaconhouse National University in Lahore.  After successfully showing at the Alhamra Gallery in Lahore, this exhibition travelled to the National Gallery in Islamabad Pakistan. The artworks by Sandra Hawkins shown in both exhibitions became part of the National Gallery’s Collection.