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Surrealism meets pop art: Hong Kong-based artist translates grief into art

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LAHORE: 

When Salvador Dalí’s surrealism meets Andy Warhol’s pop art the result could be catastrophic — a whirlwind of colour and madness on a canvas is what one might expect. Hong Kong-based artist MoShah proved this wrong at the opening of the artist’s first solo show titiled “Transmission Eternal” at The Drawing Room Art Gallery last week.

Using a monochromatic theme, MoShah depicted his inner feelings using two very different techniques of two very different masters, Dalí and Warhol. A montage of symbolism, MoShah finds beauty in despair and grief and translates it into his art. “His paintings are a melting pot of cultural symbols,” said Sanam Taseer, the gallery owner. “There are elements from around the world and somehow they end up on paper as a cohesive whole.”

After studying finance at New York University, the artist confessed his passion for film, literature and art. “I have loved arts and hence I have experimented wherever I had a chance to,” expressed MoShah. “From being an underground disk jockey in Manhattan to being the editor of a film noir magazine, Ego, I have explored a lot.”

His love for film led to his obsession with photography, which in turn became the primary medium of his recent collection priced between Rs30,000 to Rs45,000. “There are parts that I have shot and parts that I have painted and then scanned both to make them a whole,” explained the artist as he talked about his work. MoShah juxtaposed very strong symbols in very mundane scenarios, using monolith and pyramids to create a distance. He used these objects to interpret issues of diversity, history and sociology, and to a certain extent, space-time continuum.

He used traditional architectural monuments to depict the rift caused between eastern and western ideologies. “I find darkness very beautiful,” expressed MoShah and continued, “And that is what I have tried to create. There are images I have used from around the world and it is my way of commenting on what’s going on around me.”

“Transmission Eternal” had a sense of serenity even in the chaos MoShah created, drawing in the viewer. From symbols such as that of the anti-Christ to the mushroom cloud effect on the day of judgement, the artist has a very bold perception of the way the world works around him. His comments on iconic game-changing historical moments were worth looking at. MoShah also beautifully summarised America’s historical debacles.

MoShah’s technique of using surreal symbols and controversial ideas made his collection groundbreaking. Inspired by pop artists of the ’60s, great works of art can be expected from this young artist who has immersed himself in art for the past one year.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2013.

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