Press book - Abstraction Contained - Waqas Kahn first solo show in Europe.

1. ‘Abstraction contained’
Waqas Khan
From June 6th to 21st July at Sabrina Amrani Art Gallery, Madrid (Spain)
Mantaining his pulse, dot by dot. Travelling over each pore of the paper
with a precision pen as his only ally. This is how the pakistani artist works.
Waqas Khan is the protagonist of the show ‘Abstraction Contained’,
with which Sabrina Amrani Art Gallery celebrates its first anniversary.
Khan’s proposal updates the south asian miniaturist tradition so the
retina of the viewer can endlessly dance on the works. With a whole lot
of concentration, patience and dedication, the pakistani reveals what is
beyond the visible world.

2. Khan was captivated by Bardhakhat technique, base of the Mughal
miniaturistic painting, while he was studying at the National College of
Art of Lahore (Pakistan). It is a milenary method of crafting the drawings
dot by dot with a thin brush made of squirrel hair. The surface is always
the same: wasli paper, a multilayer handmade paper with natural glue
that contains copper sulphate, which prevents the work from eating
paper bug attacks and guarantees perdurability. Of a smooth touch, its
grain is almost imperceptible because it is polished with a shell or
stone.
After adquiring the technique, Khan challenged himself to update it:
“I commited myself to use a Rotring 0.1 Rapido, a high precision tool
used in architecture. In this way, the technique was travelling from the
static into the organic: the pen weights a lot and I have to use both
hands firmly to prevent any error in the process, that would be fatal”,
he remarks.
The concentration required by the artist is so high that he knows every
pore of the paper where he works: “And each pore knows the pressure
that my hand applies to them, that is different in each dot, mark or line”,
he adds.
The fruits of this work are compositions with which Khan is “trying to
surprise the viewers, commit to them and connect with them”.”I always
wanted that the viewer’s retina to dance endlessly on my works. I want
the viewers to stop before the work for a while, so they can think about
patience, joy or beauty. In other words, I wanted them to experiment a
trip to infinity with the body”, says the artist.
Spheres, lines and connections composed of hundreds of thousands of
dots, marks and lines. A work that does not let the artist escape not a
single night in months. “There is not a previous study, the shape comes
out by itself. I give freedom to the surface”, he explains. The final result is
a visual narration, told by Khan, that reveals what is lying after the world
that is perceptible to the human eye. “The way I see it, this process is
basically a personal experience”, he concludes.

3. Four months and twenty days. 16 hours a day.
While he works in a new work, the life of the artist is reduced to the
creative process. He dedicates up to 16 hours a day, rotating the surface
of paper so the work begins in the same point where it ends: ”The start
is in the end, the end in the beginning”, describes Khan.
He looks into the work, takes a breath, draws one or two dots over the
surface, separates from work to exhale and then inhale to start all over.
“This work requires a great focalization of energy. I am not sure if in five
years I’ll have the phisical strengh required to use this technique”. And
he is feeling it already: for Sabrina Amrani Art Gallery he has created his
bigger work ever. It is Closer, that represents an sphere of 1 meter
diameter. It is a work that required three months and twelve days to
achieve. 16 hours a day. For the creation of the whole Abstraction
Contained show, Waqas required four months and twenty days.
Testing the technique, live
On Saturday 9th June, from 10.00 to 14.00 hours, Waqas Khan will
give a workshop at Sabrina Amrani Art Gallery to explain his technique.
The participants will learn how to ellaborate wasli paper and the way to
hold the Rotring pen. After that, each participant will receive a sheet of
paper and a pen to put to the test their own ability and creativity.

4. Sabrina Amrani, first anniversary
When they begun this adventure, Sabrina Amrani and Jal Hamad stood
up to develop a galleristic project focused on proposals that invite to
reflect about the individual, society and space. Works and artists that
are openly demanding dialogue. And, without forgetting about other
realities, they focused their view on the art that is emerging in North
Africa, Middle East and South Asia.
This first year, they have collaborated again with Zoulikha Bouabdellah
an algerian artist who inaugurated the gallery a year ago with her show
Mirage, a personal vision about the Arab Spring; with Elvire Bonduelle;
with Younes Baba-ali, recently awarded with the Léopold Sèdar Senghor
Prize at Dakar Biennial; with Amina Benbouchta, with Nicène Kossentini,
and with the indian artist with residence in Dubai, UBIK.
They have participated in JustMad3, Top25 Art Fair Casablanca and are
preparing now their disembark in Beirut Art Fair, so they have been in art
fairs in three different continents in just one year of life. And they have
found a place in the social media, giving the opportunity to set tight
relations with the MENASA region. It gave them also the opportunity to
compose another way to bring art closer to the public. Their action El
mejor País – developed with the collaboration of national newspaper
El País – is a good example. Hundreds of users came to see and
participate in the performance of Elvire Bonduelle and participated in
the final production of the work, a newspaper made out only of good news.

5. Video Diary of Abstraction Contained.
From April 24th until mid-June Sabrina Amrani Art Gallery will be
publishing several small explanatory videos about the process of setting
Abstraction Contained show up, from the creation of the artwork, to
its reception from Pakistan, its photographic documentation, framing,
installation in the gallery and opening.
The videos will be in a short format and will be announced on the
gallery’s Facebook page. They will also be published on Vimeo.
Videos to the date
The Box – Arrival of the work to the gallery
http://vimeo.com/42549307
The Photos – Waqas Khan’s works magnified to the detail
http://vimeo.com/42934543
The Framing - How the works where framed
http://vimeo.com/43136622
OPEN DAY FOR PRESS PUBLIC OPENING
Tuesday, June 5th Wednesday, 6th June
20:00 h.
The artist will be present in both events.
More information:
Sabrina Amrani Art Gallery
00 34 627 539 884
sabrina@sabrinaamrani.com
jal@sabrinaamrani.com
Madera 23. 28004 Madrid, Spain
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