FOST Gallery presents Protagonists by Pakistani artist Adeel uz Zafar. This will be the artist's debut solo exhibition in Singapore, featuring 17 new artworks.

Adeel transposes the forms of stuffed soft toys bandaged in gauze into large-scale drawings engraved onto black vinyl. With painstaking, methodical mark making, Adeel’s lines mimic the weft and warp of the gauze to hint at an anthropomorphic form that is immediately recognisable yet completely betrays its non-existence. According to Adeel, the subject matter of soft toys “reflect the innocence of childhood and a primeval need for security during adolescence. But you will detect that there is also something sinister about the object because it is hidden from view and is bandaged.” The engraved images represent reticent protagonists in an unstable social and political arena, and address issues of hegemony and ambiguity.

Also included in the exhibition are a series of prints made during the artist’s recent residency at the University of New South Wales, Australia, with Cicada Press, in June 2013. The prints are reminiscent of the cross-hatching etchings perfected by old masters Albrecht Durer (1471 – 1528) and Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606 – 1669).

Image: © Adeel uz Zafar, FOST Gallery