22 SEP – 29 OCT 2017

OPENING RECEPTION
FRIDAY, 22 SEP 2017, 7-9 PM

ARTIST’S TOUR
FRIDAY, 22 SEP 2017, 6.30 PM

Hell, Purgatory and Paradise is based on Dante’s 14th century epic poem Divine Comedy.  The allegorical poem details the afterlife journey of the soul toward God in three parts.  

Even though the poem was representative of the medieval world-view as propagated by the Western Church at that time, Dante’s work was intended to be literary, not purely theological. It reflected a deep desire to understand the mysteries of life and death. It was on this basis that Adeel uz Zafar formulated a similar quest to make sense of the new world order, or rather, disorder. At a deeper level, it probes and asks questions about the personal, social, political, religious and philosophical; while retaining that sense of whimsy and skepticism seen in his previous works. At no time are the answers to these questions suggested, perhaps alluding to life being about the journey, not the destination.

The works reveal new developments in uz Zafar’s self-developed unique technique of etching on vinyl with the use of different tools. The scale of the new works are also much more intimate than his previous works, reminiscent of the traditional miniature paintings of South Asia.

The works are divided into three sections of the gallery space hypothetically indicates trilogy suggested in the title.