Reviews

Rome, Italy 1960, solo exhibition at Circolo Canova:

“Le sensazioni, le emozioni che colpiscono i gangli vitali di Siddiqua Bilgrami sono totalmente immerse in una fantasia irrequieta, ferita da asprezze o ammorbidita da languori. E’ una poetica, la sua, individualistica, quasi ribelle, macerata di sensibilita e sensitivita, che si, estrinseca in un equilibrio tra intelletto e sentimento, disvelando un carattere forte, deciso, nonostante si manifesti su argomenti e zone di tenera apparenza. Il controllo delle imagini e dato non soltanto dal riporto a un ordine compositivo, ma sopra tutto dalle rotture cromatiche e grafiche che erompono nel tessuto armoniosamente tonale, provocando lacerazioni pregnanti di significazioni”
ANTONIO BANDERA
Art Critic
Rome, May 1960

TRANSALATION:
“The sensations, the emotions, which strike one in the vitality of Siddiqua Bilgrami, are totally immersed in a restless fantasy, wounded by grief or made morbid from languor. Her individuality is altogether poetic, almost rebellious, crushed by sensibility and sensitivity which are intermingled in a balance between the intellect and the sentiment, unveiling a strong, decisive character, notwithstanding the apparently tender themes and spheres. The control of the images is maintained not only from a composite order, but more so from the chromatic and graphic ruptures which break the harmoniously toned tissue, provoking lacerations or sudden breaks full of significance.”

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Mumbai, India 1961, solo exhibition at Bhulabhai Institute

The exhibition at Bhulabhai Institute was inaugurated by the well-known writer Dr Mulk Raj Anand who said: “… art critics should write poems instead of reviews for exhibitions such as that of the young woman artist, Siddiqua Bilgrami.”

“…Even in abstract art, forms are borrowed from Nature, it seems Siddiqua Bilgrami has certainly done a fine job in giving shape and colour to things, which the subconscious may know intimately.”
‘Magic Variety of Colour’
THE TIMES OF INDIA
22nd October 1961

New Delhi, India 1963, solo exhibition at All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society

“…The present exhibition stirs up the element of discovery and intrigues our curiosity to a large measure…”
‘Bilgrami’s Work Intrigues’
FLAME
16th November 1963

“The impact as one enters the hall housing Siddiqua Bilgrami’s works is startling; one’s eyes are dazzled in no uncertain terms…’Blue Vista’, ‘Music of the Stars’ and ‘Explosion are a trifle more noticeable in a collection of works of an even unblemished quality.”
‘Art’
THOUGHT
9th November 1963

“…from her work it appears that the emphasis on a pure abstraction has not been forced, but has grown gradually. The context in which she sees physical phenomena has changed from the intrinsic to the evocative.”
‘Siddiqua’s Abstracts’
THE STATESMAN
2nd November 1963

Mumbai, India 1964, solo exhibition at Taj Art Gallery, Taj Mahal Hotel

“What was most impressive was the ‘intellectual flavour’ of her paintings… the concept behind it is a challenge… these portrayals reveal both imagination and talent.”
‘Bilgrami’s Painting Show Impressive’
THE BHARAT JYOTI
1964

Karachi, Pakistan 1965, solo exhibition at Arts Council of Pakistan

“…It all came as a big surprise. An explosion of colours, the dynamism, vitality and vigour, the splendour of lyrical fantasy, the boldness of excited lines and the dare-devil courage of spatial experimentations, all are essential ingredients of the canvases of Siddiqua Bilgrami…”
MORNING NEWS
10th February 1965
Hameed Zaman
Art Critic

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Karachi, Pakistan 1991, retrospective exhibition at Arts Council of Pakistan

“…With these large and vibrant canvases, she is set to teach younger artists a lesson. These abstract works display a rare combination of spontaneity and skill…”
MORNING NEWS
1st March 1991
Moeen Farooqui
Art Critic

“…In her latest painting, the lightness of touch, the calligraphic fragility and the expressive effects of the elusive form are very marked…”
SHE MAGAZINE
March 1991
Marjorie Husain
Art Critic

“…The galaxy becomes her second playground…instead of exploring the perfection of form, she is more concerned with conveying a sense of hidden meaning which is as spiritual as it is mystic…Her colour control has a finesse and her technique has touched a new high…There is no denying the technical virtuosity which Siddiqua displays in these paintings…”
PAKISTAN & GULF ECONOMIST
16th – 22nd March 1991
Hameed Zaman
Art Critic

“…well known abstract expressionist painter of the sixties…what is most interesting about this work is its historical specificity. But not only are Siddiqua Bilgrami’s canvases an historical record of all the devices open to painters then, but to a large extent, her work reflects a kind of unconscious shorthand, the major philosophical and social upheavals of those stormy, and at times, languorous decades…”
THE HERALD
March 1991
Gregory Minissale
Art Critic

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Karachi, Pakistan 1996, solo exhibition at V.M. Art Gallery

“…Discovering the versatile properties of acrylic paints widened Siddiqua’s range. She uses a particular layered brushwork method, simulating the richness of oils or the translucence of water-colour…She expounds the importance of an individual viewpoint or expression, yet with the control that the discipline demands…”
TUESDAY REVIEW
20th – 26th August 1996
Marjorie Husain
Art Critic

“Siddiqua Bilgrami, a highly trained artist, is a worshipper of nature and a spiritualist. Even here, secularist metaphors are drenched in spiritual values. Here is a cerebral and meditative art, a phenomenon which is unusual in our part of the world, much against the mainstream secular and modern art which is the staple diet of the contemporary art scene. “
THE NEWS
23rd August 1996
Hameed Zaman
Art Critic

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Mississauga, Canada 2002, group show at the Novotel Hotel

“Gem of an artist shines at Novotel show…”
THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS
20th September 2002
Art Critic