O Art Space: O My Lord
Lahore has always been one of the most culturally enriched cities in Pakistan. So it makes sense that I write about a gallery. Right? Well, it’s more important than that. O Art Space is actually the only one of its kind that exists in the city. The gallery scene in Lahore is redundant at times, which dismays me due to our city’s rich cultural past. This only amplifies the importance of O Art Space for Lahore.
From Mughal architecture to truck art, Lahore has always been tied to the arts. Yet, it is hard to find a gallery that is willing to explore more than traditional renditions beyond landscapes and calligraphy. O Art Space resurrects and explores the confines of art by displaying contemporary multimedia artworks and highlight innovative and fresh young artists hungry for glory. At O Studio you never know what you’ll get but you can always expect excitement.
Changing Tides
There has been a surge of new artists who are refusing to be limited by their expertise and are fearlessly experimenting with artistic mediums; galleries need to keep up. The shift from traditional to contemporary art has left many small traditional galleries in the dust. But a few wise men are recognizing the potential of this new breed of artists. An example would be COMO, which is a newly constructed cutting edge contemporary art museum in the heart of Gulberg. Yup, not a gallery. But the curated displays carry a finesse you’d expect from any top-notch contemporary art gallery, similar to O Art Space.
The When, How, and What
Omer Nabi is an interior designer by profession and runs Studio O, a successful interior designing firm. He constructed his flagship store in 2017 with the intention of providing a more tailored service for customers as he specializes in crafting bespoke pieces. It’s no secret that good art always complements furniture and other aspects of interior designing by tying together a space. Nabi recognized a lack of good (even decent) art galleries in Lahore and decided to dedicate a portion of his studio to just art, thus creating O Art Space.
With a full-fledged board of directors and an art curator, Nabi opened O Art Space with the intention of displaying new, up and coming artists to the right audience. Nabi’s clientele includes discerning art collectors and the gallery is value-addition for his customers. O Art Space brings innovative art straight out of NCA to those who can imagine it taking up a place of pride in their homes.
From Elsewhere
O Art Space is situated on the 1st floor of Studio O. Less is always more and the minimalist layout and display let the art take center stage. Walking into O Art Space you can tell it’s a gallery of a different caliber; cement flooring and white walls define the gallery. Currently, they are displaying Shireen Bano Rizvi a recent graduate from NCA. Her solo show, “From Elsewhere” exhibits a unique geometric style that experiments with thoughts and emotions. Definitely some revolutionary stuff. The timings are from 11 AM to 8 PM so you should have plenty of time to go check out the art.
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O Art Space has a rigorous display schedule and is always displaying new artists. Each artist is displayed for 10 days and then any pieces that aren’t sold are kept for an additional 2 months in the side gallery. In fact, O Art Space is already fully booked through and through for this year so if you’re an up and coming artist and want to get your work out there well you better get a move on. Alternatively, if you’re looking to add to your collection, there is no better space in the city to find artwork and no better man than Omer Nabi to help you out.
