The thought has occurred quite a few times and has translated in the many interviews I have done of artists: how do they know when an artwork is finished? When you create something from scratch, building on a canvas stroke by stroke, the boundary of when to finish must be hazy, any more hues and the art work may be ruined. I am not an artist, I am a writer and when I write, at multiple occasions I have needed to make the words disappear because it was not right. Words are no less a type of art for me. But what does an artist do? Do they also ball up their papers of failed tries and aim them to the bin and watch it pile up? Do their thought processes also change as an image starts to build? The questions burn and I always ask an artist, sometimes even for my own clarity. And sometimes the answers find you. Karachinama – Behind the scenes in an artist’s studio & more was an art exhibition recently held at Sanat Gallery by Ahmed Javed and curated by Adeel uz Zafar.

The exhibition was an extension of a show held at Sanat last year, titled ‘Lahorenama’. This ongoing project arose from an idea led by mutual discourse between the artist and curator initially over a period of one year and became a documentation of keen curiosity about the major players initially of the Lahore and now Karachi art scene – recognised as some of the important personalities in the contemporary art world – what they are like, their artistic process, where they work and more. Javed investigated and decided to document these contemporary artists in an up-close and personal way, while they pursue daily practice in their workspace or elsewhere which serves as a creative center for experimentation. The project also particularises the discourse of a workshop (the concept of Mughal atelier where apprentices worked under masters) to a complete paradox of an independent artist’s space in which they are free to pursue their own imagery and artistic agenda.

Javed has been awarded the Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2019 and David Elliott, Chair Judge, said: “In a field of extremely tight competition, Ahmed Javed’s gouache ‘Imran Qureshi Studio’ has been unanimously proclaimed the winner of The 2019 Sovereign Asian Art Prize. Working on a large scale that quotes the neo-miniature style taught at his alma mater, the National College of Arts in Lahore, Javed comments on and transforms this traditional way of working. By concentrating on a moment of creation in Imran Qureshi’s studio where he was an assistant, not only does he stress the importance of his former teacher’s work but also reveals its powerful context. Qureshi is shown making the gestural, blood-red hand paintings that shattered the atmosphere, scale and hierarchical methods of the traditional Mughal miniature to depict horror and terror in the present. In this work, Javed records, frames, amplifies and pays homage to this moment."

“My work revolves around questioning and at times contesting the ‘modernisation’ of miniature painting while focusing on working with the traditional style of miniature art. Traditional miniature has always captured my attention, hence as a way forward to find my subject I went back to move forward, through contemporary life documentation. My journey led me towards documenting contemporary artists, in their studios and beyond their workspace; in an up-close and personal way,” says Javed.

In continuation to the previous show ‘Lahorenama’ this series is about building a narrative based on the life of artists, in future shaping a manuscript. These scriptures in the past envisioned the glorified life of rulers. In his work, Javed intends to present the life of contemporary artists. These works also particularise the transformation from the discourse of workshops and apprenticeships of the past era, into a complete paradox of an independent artist’s studio in which he is free to pursue his own imagery and artistic agenda. In this body of work, he seeks to document through stylisation, technique and multiple perspectives based on the actual environments and people around me. The colour schemes have been inspired from the old Mughal miniatures. He has played around with the size and perspective of certain areas, objects and figures to denote their elevated status or importance much like traditional Mughal miniatures. Javed’s work seeks to preserve the traditional practice while acknowledging its existence in present context.