By: Jenna Ferrey
August 28, 2019
Maria Qamar’s bright Pop-Art canvases have brough a splash of color to Richard Taittinger Gallery and New York City’s Lower East Side. Qamar’s exhibition FRAAAANDSHIP! explores some of the realities and challenges of gender, patriarchy, love and friendship. Her work is deliberate, purposeful, and created with a Desi audience in mind. she intends for it to speak to her cousins and friends. Having Maria and her work in the gallery has created an entirely new energy in the space, and introduced a nuanced feminist point of view. Mera Jism, a 5 foot vertical canvas, explodes off the wall, insisting that a woman’s body is a strong and powerful weapon. Qamar’s works challenge the patriarchy, but they also make you smile. Hai Rabba echoes back to Lichtenstein and reminds viewers of the exhausting reality of falling in love…again. But perhaps the most exciting element of Qamar’s FRAAAADNSHIP! has been Qamar herself. She is articulate, poised, and sure of her work.