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Ali Kazim - ‘our very own success story’
“To look at one of Ali Kazim’s paintings is not only to look at something wonderful, something remarkable. It is also to look at something deeply intriguing. Kazim is a fine and highly skilled and accomplished painter, but he is also a deeply compelling and accomplished teller of mysterious and wondrous stories..” (Eddie Chambers in Secret Lives)
Newsline has this fascinating account of the artist Ali Kazim:
“Ali Kazim is our very own success story. A home-grown boy from Pattoki, a small village in Punjab, Ali worked for a while as a billboard painter and a medical dispenser before he joined the National College of Arts (NCA) in 1998. He won a merit scholarship that allowed him to quit his job as a dispenser, and concentrate on his studies. He graduated with distinction in 2002, and a year later, he was invited to represent Pakistan at the George Keyt Foundation International Artists’ Camp in Sri Lanka, where his work was exhibited at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery.
In 2005, he won yet another scholarship: a Royal Overseas League Arts residency that sent him to France for a year (the only Pakistani artist so far to have won this residency). On October 23, 2007, the V. M. Art Gallery, in collaboration with Green Cardamom (London), opened its doors for his fourth solo exhibition, with an average price tag of Rs.500,000 per painting…..
Ali’s work has that intangible quality that has already made him one of Pakistan’s most sought-after contemporary artists, both here and around the world…..”
The New York Art World says:
The mix of unreal elements and an exaggerated reality underscores the spiritual quality of his work, the depth of the colors pulls the viewer into a world of multiple dimensions where the subtle voice is heard above everything else…. to return to one’s point of origin, quietly nudging the viewer back to an uncannily familiar place.
The images and references are courtesy this website.
December 1st, 2007 at 7:37 am
I’m impressed by the man! He’s got an exceptional success story courtesy his talent and hard work. The painting above right is amazing enough for one to gauge the quality of his art.
Keep us informing about people like Kazim for our motivation!
salams!
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:00 am
I shall borrow a French word, amitie amoureuse to describe the paintings. These paintings has a nostalgia that comes from the longing to be taken into a deeper world. The lines are beautifully contoured, and it leaves a refeshing view of the figurative. It all comes to poise, the poise of the subject when it is in true balance. These paintings hold the balance very well… (i am a painter, and am always looking at balance in most of my figuratives). Ali Kazim has striked a perfect balance and I wish him much success in his creative pursuit!
April 30th, 2008 at 10:26 am
One cannot remain the same. Art is a mirror which should show many reflections, and the artist should not always show the same face, or the face becomes a mask.
I just wanted to drop you a note to say how wonderful work you have done. Its a remarkable journey.
Congratulations on this wonderful accomplishment. You are definitely an asset for our nation.