Farrukh Adnan, a former assistant professor at National College of Art and currently teaching at NCBA. He was invited by Studio BQ for Artist Talk. Where he enlightened students and young artists about how he developed his visuals and thoughts. He studied photography at National college of arts and visual arts at Beacon House National University. Since then, he has been working as a Graphic Designer & Visualizer at emerging companies like Evenment, 1 blue melon and Red Communication Arts. Apart from teaching, Farrukh has been working as an independent Visual Artist, Graphic Designer, Photographer and currently living and practicing in Lahore. Farrukh has accepted his foundations gracefully. His work not only gave a visual treat to the audience but also gave them the realization of the factual identity of the human. The artist has found the secret that penetrating into our souls and accepting and embracing what your influences are, can certainly help you alot. It's like a tree with really deep roots, the firmer they are planted in the ground, the better foundation you have to build upon. `One is a part of the soil, we are derived from the soil and will end up going back and mixing up into it' Farrukh said. Farrukh's thoughts and works during the talk, helped artists and students in learning the value of experimentation to know history of their subject, Observation of the surroundings and how an artist can create a dialogue with itself. The artist combines old and contemporary spaces and relates it to the transformation of history. By incorporating previous experiences of photography with practical life, he explains his association with his home town. Farrukh also gave the students a deep insight through the history of Tulamba ruins located in Khanewal, near Multan. This helped students how to learn and investigate the history of the regions and any subject they are working on. The artist's visit to Studio BQ hence proved fruitful to the students in multiple ways. Farrukh enjoyed and appreciated the enthusiastic desire and love of youngsters towards learning and he hopes that students will do marvels in the future to give life to the dying art in Pakistan.
Ahsan Jamal is a graduate of National College of Arts Lahore in miniature painting. He was the Visiting Faculty member at National College of Arts Lahore, Karachi University and Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi. He is busy in exhibiting his work nationally and internationally. Ahsan has also participated in residencies at Khoj Studio, New Delhi, India and Vasl regional residency, karachi, Pakista. Madiha Sikander was born in Hyderabad, Pakistan, in 1987. She is a visual artist and writer currently based in Lahore. She graduated from the National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan, in 2009 majoring in miniature painting. She works and lives between Karachi and Lahore. She is work with different art galleries in Pakistan as an advisor and curator. Madiha also participated in various art residencies nationally and internationally
Aasim Akhtar’s Orientation Talk Aasim Akhtar is curating StudioBQ Artist Residency Program 2016 and its final exhibition. He is an Islamabad based artist, art critic and curator. He was a curator in residence at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan in 2002. His most recent curatorial project is "Amnesia: The Loss of Cultural Memory" (2011). His writing is published in magazines, catalogues, books and journals, both nationally and internationally, and his artwork has been widely exhibited, more recently in "Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh". He is the author of three books: Regards Croises: Peshawar and The Distant Steppe: Indus Kohistan, and Dialogue with Threads: Traditions of Embroidery in Hazara (forthcoming). He teaches Art Appreciation at Fatima Jinnah Women University in Rawalpindi. In his first, he shared the schedule plan and how will the artists benefit from vising Islamabad and Lahore galleries in his company.
Ali Azmat Studio BQ has been organizing an artistry event on monthly basis from last few months. They are facilitating and giving the opportunity to the upcoming and emerging new talent in the world of art to be connected & learning the valuable knowledge from the highly skilled artists of Pakistan who had already put their marks as an individual thought. On 27th of February 2016 Studio BQ arranged an artist talk with the well known and highly thought provokingly skilled artist Mr. Ali Azmat, one of the most talented artist of his generations, Ali Azmat is a painter fascinated by the landscape of human form, working with oil & acrylic on canvas, he painted a drama in the form of light & shade, while expressing the extent of emotions of human psyche like loneliness & sadness with a great ordeal by feeling them as his own. One finds the richness of paintings in his coloration, textures, sculpting elements and in the drapes of garments. In artist talk, Ali Azmat tells about the time when he moved from Multan to Lahore back in 1993, to pursue his studies. He recalls being a shy boy, who had trouble adjusting to the new surroundings that he found himself in. you had to live in the hostel and it was just you and the open sky, with no boundaries and restriction to go anywhere. Contrary to his statement, he comments that he was not much of a social animal, making frequent trips back home to regain his grounding. An aspect of him is still reflected in his possession, such as the antique cupboard amongst the modern furniture tying him to his roots. For him it was his art that provided him with opportunities, to interact with people from different walks of life and open doors for the future.
He explores the
different perspectives of beauty preserved by worldly creatures including man
and animals and he knows what it takes to step from being a boy working as
labor to standing as an internationally recognized artist. The talk began with
a brief introduction to the artist moving along his thrilling experiences
throughout. In struggle to bringing the inner view together to portray the
uniqueness of creative imagination. For those of you who were in the talk, you
may be thinking, “What inspired these visuals and how are they all connected
within our culture?”
StudioBQ is arranged
a talk with Muhammad Zeeshan on January 7th 2016.
Fakhar Ullah Tahir,
Assistant Professor of Communication Design in Visual Communications Department
at National College of Arts was invited by StudioBQ for artist talk. There he
shared his art experiences with students and professional artists present at
artist talk. He graduated from National College of Arts in 1985 with a
distinction and since then he has worked with numerous groups as their Art Director
at various companies including Message Communications, Daily Jehan Pakistan,
Mediaone (pvt) ltd, Time and Space, etc. Not only these, but Tahir has been
designing products for some of the known companies like Skimz Milk Powder,
Candia Milk, Tropico Juices, Nimir Chemicals, Suntech Motorsports, Worldcall,
Foreign Educators and the list goes on.
Naheed Fakhar,
currently an Associate Professor of Miniature at National College of Arts was
invited at Studio BQ for artist talk. Fakhar herself has participated in
numerous art exhibitions on National and International level, including a group
show at contemporary miniature paintings organized by the Iranian Consulate in
Tehran in 2012 and in 2011 she participated in a group show of contemporary
miniatures organized by Cambridge University on Shahnameh Fidowsi.
Aakif Suri born in 1982, graduated in 2006, miniature from National College of Arts. Suri has been a renowned contemporary miniature painter working since his graduation and serving Pakistani Art Hub. He is one of those artists who instead of rejecting their traditions uses them to support artworks, as now a days in miniature painting modifications are being made to keep up with the fast pace of artistic society. At first glance, one also feels that Suri’s artworks are based on political themes, but according to artist statement his artworks might give a political feeling but the story does not end here, it is about behind the scene story, the tussle between various interest group in Humans, formed on the basis of language, skin, colour, culture, religion, economics, region and so on.
