SULEMAN AQEEL KHILJI: "Mark / نشاں "

Aqeel's paintings loyally take it upon themselves to negotiate these sorts of disparities and distances - not only between different moments in time, but also between his current surroundings of London and those of his hometown of Quetta in Pakistan. Among the paintings in the exhibition is the large-scale "Mnemonic Spaces (Regent's Park)". Somewhat similar to an afterimage - where the retinal signals are being adapted as they are being carried from the retina of the eye to the occipital lobe and the rest of the brain - the scene of the London park has yet another scene - that of the artist and his family hunting in the mountains around Quetta - superimposed upon it. Or in the case of the triptych entitled "The Remains of the Day", in which the artist sourced books from the street markets of Lahore, and made the cover of these the surfaces onto which he would paint. In one you can see a starry evening sky in oil paint moving across the smooth leather binding, while you can also still make out the words of the engraved title: "Fifty Adventures Into The Unknown". An in one of the neighbouring panels you are presented with a portrait of the artist's uncle as a young student. The gilded decor of the design has been left untouched to now make up the pattern of the young man's scarf. The result evoking the effect of the Japanese ceramic technique of 'Kintsugi', where cracks are repaired with gold to reveal rather than to conceal its imperfection.

Aqeels relishes to bring such imperfection to the forefront, or to showcase the endurance of these books. Their sense of solidity balanced against their lasting ability to record their own history - the wear and tear that marks their use and their travel. "Mark / نشاں", is also the title of the exhibition, and both refers to such a buildup of patina, but also refers to the accumulation of more considered gestures, the various layers and temperatures that make up Aqeell's paintings. And just as importantly, the word "Mark" - or "Nishaan" as it would be the transcription from both urdu and farsi - is commonly used to suggest a presence. "We can't find his / her mark" is an expression used to let you know that a person is lost. Rather apt and necessary as a term for Aqeel's expansive and mountainous home region of Balochistan. The painting "Back & Forth" is finding its way into this landscape - the artist remembering it and reimagining it - which is marked by vast deserts, high mountains and numerous hillsides that are dotted with caves, such as those of Gondrani. The crumbly and sandy backdrop of the painting is interrupted by jagged, dark brushstrokes, mapping out this manmade complex of the caves, niches and pathways. A group of bathers can be seen in the forefront of the painting, while the attention is drawn to the cave in the back in which a fire has been made. It now serves the purpose of a lantern that lights up the myriad of brushstrokes which are laid out across the large canvas: the blues and greens of the pond, the earth tones of the hillside, the dark brown of the caves, and - there again - that constantly recurring yellow. It is a warm lemon yellow that is intermixed with a brighter hue of sulfur. Commonly found in this mineral rich landscape, sulfur is historically also known as "Brimstone", which translates into "burning stone". The yellow of the painting shining with such force and ferocity that the canvas seems in danger of self-igniting.