Poster Kitsch

Actor Vidya Balan’s bold role as Silk in The Dirty Picture not only garnered fan following at home,but it was also the inspiration behind Karachi-based artist Muhammed Zeeshan’s Vidya (2013). Zeeshan was so impressed by her role that he visited the theatre eight days in a row when the movie released. The painting,on display at Latitude 28,shows Balan posing in the form of the Nataraja — the dancing form of Lord Shiva — in an ode to the actor,who he believes is the “perfect representation of feminisim today”.

His exhibition titled “Posternama” comprises 12 paintings,which marry traditional miniatures with the technique of laser scoring and gouache on paper. “All these images in my paintings are from local posters,which people put in their houses as decorative items,and from sufi and mythical stories. Local artists and believers have given their own faces to the sufis and creatures,illustrating the time,events and landscape,” says Zeeshan,33,

who started out by painting cinema posters.

“While working as a cinema board painter,I would be given the job to censor the skin of the heroine shown in the billboards. Later,noticing local billboards and posters came naturally. Pop culture imagery became routine for me,” says Zeeshan.

The reason for the title “Posternama” is as intriguing as it sounds. “Just like the Akbarnama and the Jehangirnama give visual representation to the the reign of Akbar and Jehangir,I tried to add ‘nama’ since my work dealt with posters,” he says. His painting,titled Rumi,on the sufi poet,shows a man with a grim expression sitting on the ground with his hands and legs folded. It bears resemblance to another work titled Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai,representing the Sindhi sufi scholar and poet by the same name,which shows him in a similar position.

The exhibition is on display at Latitude 28,F-208,Lado Sarai till January 1,between 11 am and 7 p.m. Contact: 46791111