Taseer Art Gallery

Farida Batool

The works of Farida Batool serve as metaphors for political upheaval. They identify with the fear that is spread throughout Pakistan and the many citizens who have suffered at the hands of the regime; yet when away from it, Batool is constantly confronted with her own feelings of guilt, and nostalgia for her homeland. She magnifies and examines these emotions in her use of lenticular prints (3-d holograph

Eik shehr jo udaas hai (a city that is mourning)  is a tribute to Lahore.   The walls are a reference to its signature red brick architecture and the lenticular layering symbolizes years of history and socio-political complexity. It is a city that unfolds slowly. A multi layered multifaceted city, the realities of which are hidden behind its many impregnable walls

Dekhna manaa hai! (Seeing is Prohibited) shows 450 pairs of eyes, placed like tiles on the wall as they look at the other works in the show and at us the viewer. The eyes blink and change direction as the viewer walks past the work. The piece emulates Batool’s feelings of discomfort and paranoia in expressing the constant surveillance of the ever-watchful eyes of the State, the Taliban and the media.