Gendering Detail

Opening Success!

2006-05-09T13:24:00.000-04:00

Photos from the widely attended opening of Gendering Detail on Friday, May 5th. The exhibition continues to run at Art Square Gallery until the end of this month.

Huge thanks are in order to four outstanding artists: Amna Amir, Sehr Jalal, Tazeen Qayyum and Talha Rathore; to Ali Khan, director of the South Asian Gallery of Art; and to Juni Birol, director of the Art Square Gallery.

Gearing up for the Grand Opening

2006-05-05T13:44:00.000-04:00

Just a few finishing touches (like moving chairs in order to accommodate the legions of visitors) and we are ready to open.

Talha and Sehr have both travelled to Toronto and will be at the opening along with Tazeen. In lieu of Amna's presence (living in Dubai), we have put up some detailed descriptions of her paintings that will answer a lot of questions that might arise from viewers.

As you can see, the colors in the work alongside those orange projecting walls just make the whole gallery resonate. Just perfect for making the argument that the "miniature" is about the most dynamic type of contemporary art being produced in North America today.

We have put out magnifying glasses to underscore the "detail" element of Gendering Detail - again it was a bit of a risk, I don't want to fetishize the cultural implications of this work (and the magnifying glass can have so many negative connotations), but as I see people walk through the gallery who are unfamiliar with this technique, they pick up the mag. glasses and really devote the kind of attention that this work demands. In the context of a typical western canon of contemporary art, that kind of focused attention does not usually come naturally. So in that sense, the mag. glasses work. We'll see what kind of feedback we receive this evening...

6-8pm - Art Square Gallery (334 Dundas W.) - Hope to see everyone there!

The installation begins!

2006-05-01T23:29:00.000-04:00

Over at Art Square Gallery (334 Dundas W.) today, Juni Birol (gallery director), his staff and I installed about 90% of Gendering Detail.

At the end of it all, we took a step back and were blown away by what we saw - the work is so strong, the colors so vibrant, the technical qualities so sharp - it really looks fantastic.

I was so glad with the final color that Juni chose for the two projecting walls, they contribute to the space's intimate feel while also further brightening the space. Given the entomological display vocabulary that is a significant part of Tazeen's work, we decided to arrange her pieces in a non-linear fashion, so that the composition of the works themselves referenced the museum display sequence. It worked out beautifully - enhanced by the fact that they are framed within glossy shadow boxes.

Talha is driving from New York on Thursday and Sehr is flying in on Friday for the reception on May 5th.

Now things are getting really exciting.....!!

Important packages from Dubai

2006-04-27T12:53:00.000-04:00

Talha Rathore, Tazeen Qayyum and Sehr Jalal will all be at the opening of Gendering Detail next Friday, May 5th at Art Square - ready to talk about their new work and get a taste of the Torontonian collecting scene.

Unfortunately Amna Amir is unable to make the trip from Dubai, but I'm pleased to report that her paintings have arrived and look incredible! Because of the way in which they combine figural subject matter with abstract and haunting overtones, they really help to pull the entire show together, providing important visual threads between all of the paintings/collages. See example below:

I have also been discussing the cafe display with Tazeen that will briefly outline the making of a miniature painting. There are some lines here that we don't want to cross - the fetishization of an "eastern" technique, for instance, is definitely what we need to avoid. Yet, I can't help but feel that an introduction to this technique, in this context, will make people aware of its local presence in the diaspora as well as encourage visitors to "see" this finely detailed work as part of a contemporary canon.

All works are in, all posters and cards are printed - in just four short days, the installation begins!

Just a reminder...

2006-04-24T18:43:00.000-04:00

Gendering Detail
Contemporary Miniature Painting by:
Talha Rathore, Tazeen Qayyum, Sehr Jalal, Amna Amir
Curator by Kristy Phillips (ABD), Independent Scholar

Art Square Gallery, Toronto, Ontario Canada
May 5-28, 2006

South Asian Gallery of Art, Burlington, Ontario Canada
July 1-31, 2006

In the West, “the detail” is historically relegated to the domain of the decorative and unimportant and to the interior domestic sphere of the feminine. In contrast, the colossal exterior is an overwhelming and potent entity associated with the domain of men. Given these obstacles to appreciating “the detail” in Western traditions, how does it assume a triumphal position in the contemporary paintings of Amna Amir, Sehr Jalal, Tazeen Qayyum and Talha Rathore, four women artists trained in the miniature technique?

In fact, it is within their very struggle with preconceived notions of artistic intricacies that the established structures of contemporary art have been shaken, and cleared a space for new artistic vocabularies. While the history of miniature painting in South Asia has ensured an easy acceptance of its form in the East, each artist, now living and presenting her work in the diaspora, has had to negotiate the reception of the “detail” in a Western environment. Gendering Detail presents work that speaks to this displacement of artistic technique, as well as physical being, and responds provocatively to this suturing of cultures, of gendered domains, and of modes of viewing.

For further details contact Kristy Phillips: phil8632@umn.edu

Harder than it looks: notes on technique

2006-04-20T15:28:00.000-04:00

In addition to featuring the paintings/collages/printing by these four artists, Gendering Detail will also include a section of the gallery devoted to the technique of miniature painting.

Talha, Tazeen, Amna and Sehr were all trained at the National School of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan - the only school in the world that teaches the technique of miniature painting as it was practiced at its height in 16th-century Persia and South Asia. Although all of their work explores highly contemporary issues of femininity, displacement, and cultural "othering," they all adhere in varying ways to these old traditions. This way, our Western ideas about "tradition" somehow being antithetical to the development of contemporary art are completely unended.

Highlights of the technical process of making a miniature include the making of paintbrushes with the hair from a squirrel's tail. In the course of their studies, each women had to catch and kill a squirrel (sometimes done by others!) in order to select the proper hair which comes from a particular part of the tail and can only be found on squirrels of a particular age. Tazeen has an extra one of these tails that she is including in the exhibition.

More details on technique to come tomorrow.....

Exhibition details plus associated events...

2006-04-18T18:52:00.000-04:00

Gendering Detail: Exhibition of Contemporary Miniature Paintings

By Talha Rathore, Tazeen Qayyum, Sehr Jalal and Amna Amir

May 1-28, 2006

Art Square Gallery, 334 Dundas Street West, Toronto

Mon-Fri: 10-9 pm, Sat-Sun: 10-5 pm

Opening reception: Friday May 5, 2006 from 6-8 pm

Chief Guest: Haroon Siddiqui, Editor Emeritus of the Toronto Star and recipient of Order of Canada

South Asian Gallery of Art (SAGA) in partnership with Art Square Gallery and Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, is pleased to present for the first time in Canada works of four international contemporary miniature artists. The exhibition titled Gendering Detail, curated by Kristy Phillips, features the intricate brushwork and creative expressions of Talha Rathore (New York), Tazeen Qayyum (Toronto), Sehr Jalal (Boston) and Amna Amir (Dubai). Each artist has received training in the traditional techniques of miniature painting from the National College of Arts (NCA) in Lahore, Pakistan, but they produce work that speaks to the current era. They employ the evocative nature of the detail as an instrument to explore their contemporary space as women in South Asia and other parts of the world, in Islam, and as political and sensual beings. The viewer, rendered giant by the minutiae of the work, is forced to revisit the act of viewing miniature paintings in the 16^th century as an intimate encounter of physical investigation, to scrutinize the complexity of brushwork and ultimately admire the devil in the detail.

From July 1-31 the show will travel to Burlington, Ontario where it will be exhibited at SAGA's new location in Artists Walk at Village Square. From November 4-December 16, Gendering Detail will be exhibited at Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. This show is sponsored by Inforica and DAWN Canadian Labels.

ADJUNCT PROGRAMS WITH SAVAC [South Asian Visual Arts Collective]:

Saturday, May 6, 2006, 8:00 pm

Premiere Performance: The Flowering Tree, Conceived, Choreographed and Performed by Gitanjali Kolanad

Robert Gill Theatre, 214 College Street (St. George entrance)

Tickets: $15 at the door, for advance tickets please call Box Office: 416.978.7986

Sunday, May 7, 2006, 2:00 pm

Matinee Performance: The Flowering Tree, Conceived, Choreographed and Performed by Gitanjali Kolanad

Robert Gill Theatre, 214 College Street (St. George entrance)

Tickets: $10 at the door, for advance tickets please call Box Office: 416.978.7986

Sunday, May 7, 2006, 3:30 pm

Panel Discussion: Transforming the Guru

Robert Gill Theatre, 214 College Street (St. George entrance), Free Admission

Panelists include dancers/choreographers Ananya Chatterjea and Gitanjali Kolanad and visual artists Ambreen Butt and Talha Rathore who as a result of their gendered experience create work, which often moves outside tradition. The panelists will speak about their own practice and engage in a dialogue across disciplines with moderator Dr. Gillian McCann.

Transforming the Guru is a panel discussion that explores the influence of feminism on the male dominated guru Parampara of South Asian dance and miniature painting.

Artist Bios

2006-04-17T13:04:00.000-04:00

Amna Amir (Dubai) is a graduate of the National College of Arts in Pakistan and the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Amna has exhibited her work in Pakistan and Canada. Her current work speaks to her existence as a woman and to her relationships with the people around her in Dubai. She is interested in the experience of living in a multi-cultural society, conforming to its norms, and living up to the stereotypes created by cultural, religious and media-based institutions. Her work consists of stylized figures and symbols saturated with various connotations, inviting the audience to view, interpret and translate the images according to their own associations.

Sehr Jalal (Boston) received her bachelor of fine arts degree, specializing in miniature painting, from the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan. She has been living in the U.S. for the past five years and continues to use the miniature as her medium of self-expression, to give voice, visuals and words to the internal battles that play within her. Sehr’s work was most recently exhibited at the Artwallah Festival 2005 in Los Angeles, California.

Tazeen Qayyum (Toronto) is a contemporary miniature painter who graduated from the National College of Arts Lahore, Pakistan in 1996. She has participated in numerous International group shows namely in U.S.A, Jordon, Nepal, Pakistan, Poland, Finland, Italy and Austria, and has two solo shows to her credit. Her work was selected in two International Biennales held in Iran and Bangladesh. Her recent work comments on aggressive global politics and the subsequent suppression of difference.

Talha Rathore (New York) graduated from the Miniature Painting Department of the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan. After spending the greater part of her life in Pakistan, she moved to the United States in 1998. Her work has been shown in different parts of the world such as the U.S., UK, Germany, Japan, Morocco, Hawaii, India, Pakistan and Hong Kong. Currently participating in the exhibition Karkhana at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut, this work will move to the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco in August 2006.

Sehr Jalal

2006-04-12T21:20:00.000-04:00

(On top: Circle of Life, opaque watercolor on wasli, 2006; Bottom: Three Feet, opaque watercolor on wasli, 2006)

"...The combination of detail and the female body as a tactic of visual expression is carried through in the anatomical studies and self-portraiture of Jalal’s paintings where her body is a metaphor for navigating new territory as a woman and as a mother. It is also work produced in the context of displacement; her exaggerated compositional format is the result of confronting her status as a non-American artist in the United States, and balancing the impact of detail with Western interests in the general composition. Much of Jalal’s work explores the labored process of figuratively turning herself inside out and exposing an essential feminine core."

-Kristy Phillips

Amna Amir

2006-04-12T21:07:00.000-04:00

(On top: Protective Confinement, opaque watercolor and wasli, 2006; Bottom: Control Freak, opaque watercolor and wasli, 2006)

"...In Amir’s paintings, which work together in almost a narrative flow, the female body is offered as evidence of the loss of self that inevitably occurs when forced to perform within the boundaries of social expectations. In this sense the commentary is universal, as we are all performers of gender, of nation, and of culture. In Protective Confinement, the seductiveness of the palette and the image of the quilt provide a false lulling sense of “protection” but are, in reality, part of a social cage where flightless wings are metaphors for silenced voices. The self-conscious gaze evoked by this work makes the viewer painfully aware of his/her complicity in anticipating a performance from Amir as both artist and woman."

-Kristy Phillips

Tazeen Qayyum

2006-04-12T00:19:00.000-04:00

(On top: Use only as intended, opaque watercolor, photo transfer, entomology pins and labels on wasli, 2006; bottom: Periplaneta Americana, opaque watercolor, photo transfer, entomology pins and labels on wasli, mixed media, 2006)

"...Tazeen Qayyum's dead cockroach motif, playfully “iconic” and reproduced by a local clothing designer as simultaneously compelling and repulsive, functions here as socio-political metonym rather than metaphor, standing in for the eradication of human bodies, and of cultural difference, in our current war-time environment. The delicate floral patterns, imitating the “feminine” labor of fine embroidery presents a dissonant juxtaposition with the cockroach image, predictably evoking disgust or distain while hinting at the presence of a threatened individuality that is victim to the homogenizing rhetoric of global politics..."

- Kristy Phillips

Talha Rathore

2006-04-10T19:09:00.000-04:00

(On Top: It took away so much, gouche, blockprint and wasli, 2006; Bottom: Pilgrim Soul, gouche and wasli, 2006)

"...Subway maps form both the ground and some of the detailed structure in her collages, charting the unknown and transforming wiry routes into twisting ropes or the strings of a net, or a noose, producing a sense of anxiety and thus also mapping the psychological angst of attempting to function in a strange, detached environment. Lone sinewy cypress and stylized rounded trees inspired by Indian Rajput paintings underscore signs of isolation and alienation, often with a cadenced repetition of block prints suggesting an unending journey, as in It Took Away So Much...".

- Kristy Phillips

2006-04-10T18:57:00.000-04:00