Splendid Works by Mashkoor Raza 2017

Mashkoor Raza

Filled with energy and life Mashkoor Raza’s new works are like a breath of fresh air. He has great natural creative ability and skill in rendition of colour, handling of space and composition. His forceful strokes combine with a play of light and shadow invigorates the women and horses he paints on canvas. He put into practice a highly developed sense of design, form and colour.

During more than four decades he has established a distinctive mode of expression. His boldly rendered horses and glamorous nudes in abstract have become his signature style. With a blend of abstraction and cubist component, he creates aesthetic transparent impressions.

His recent semi-abstract and abstract work is a bit different from his known style. He brings out texture with wash technique and created images through abstract cubic forms on contemporary note. This time his compositions are in bold and soft colours that he hasn’t used before. He also changes the background of his paintings, which are more bold and attractive. There are a few black and white panels of horses in which he bring out the highlights of this strong and beautiful animal.

Thus experimenting with his own style of work he produced unique pieces of art that have reflections of his signature style. He may have given a contemporary touch in his new work but the distinctive characteristics that identify his work remain intact.

A recipient of Pride of Performance, Mashkoor Raza is acclaimed for his non-representational and abstract/cubism styles which have become his inimitable signature.

A book “Mashkoor Raza’s Journey” written by Nadeem Zuberi was launched a few years ago, which reveals some of the many different experiences of Mashkoor’s life and different phases of progress of his work, revealing a story of the ability to motivate one’s creativity and the journey of self-discovery.

After graduating from Karachi School of Art (KSA) in Fine Art Mashkoor Raza participated in many national and international exhibitions around the globe and his paintings have been selected for the art collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He held his 50th solo exhibition a couple of years ago which is an honor for the artist as he is the only artist of the world who has reached to a golden jubilee of solo shows.

- Nadeem Zuberi