Adler Beatty is happy to current Magical Creatures, an exhibition that includes the work of Karachi-born artist Hiba Schahbaz alongside Western European illuminated manuscripts, uncommon books, and objects, created between the 14th and nineteenth centuries from personal collections and Les Enluminures.Â
Schahbaz, educated in conventional Indo-Persian miniature portray, makes use of that method to discover cross-cultural mythology and the feminine perspective. This presentation of distinctive works options watercolors on handmade, tea-stained paper, packing containers, and books. Enlarged, life-size variations of figures and botanicals from the miniatures are integrated right into a site-specific set up of cut-paper mermaids in a lush setting. Whereas Schahbaz works in quite a lot of scales and mediums, her work retain a hanging intimacy. Their refined hues and stylish element are rooted in rigor, self-discipline, and persistence, the fruits of years of examine and custom.
Illuminated manuscripts have been handwritten non secular texts, historic data, and literary works created within the Center Ages and Renaissance. Characteristically, they embrace ornate borders, intricate typography, and gold leaf elaborations that catch the sunshine to create transcendent moments of illumination and reverence, reinforcing the non secular or authoritative weight of the texts. One notable style of illuminated manuscripts, the Bestiary, attracts a prescient parallel with Schahbaz’s work, each using animals and legendary creatures.
Schahbaz claims area for feminine narratives inside what’s a traditionally male-dominated type, infusing private mythology into every work. Works resembling Self Portrait with Lion (2024) depict girls in profile alongside highly effective beasts. The flora surrounding them usually spills past the body, and our bodies movement with their environment, their curves contrasting the geometric borders. By bridging the meticulous craft of manuscript illumination with up to date themes, Magical Creatures highlights the enduring energy of visible storytelling. Whether or not via the fragile layering of pigments or the fluidity of legendary imagery, Schahbaz’s work underscores the common attraction of manuscripts throughout cultures. At a time when digital media dominates, her observe reaffirms the significance of preserving and reimagining tactile, centuries-old traditions. In illuminating these tales anew, Schahbaz invitations us to think about the boundless narratives that lie throughout the ornate margins of historical past and artwork.
Magical Creatures revels within the delicacy and technical mastery displayed all through the Illuminated Manuscripts and miniatures, whereas additionally providing a subversion of authorship and perspective. Schahbaz’s participation on this foregone custom presents a novel alternative for up to date audiences to expertise these ornate microcosms in a brand new context.
