Reviews
“The crowd erupted into thunderous applause the moment a life size portrait of former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was unveiled. There were ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ as the portrait was unveiled …The Queen of Malaysia unveiled the portrait. Dr. Mahathir himself was surprised upon seeing the wonderful portrait of him and congratulated the portrait artist Mr. Bhatti for his excellent command on the art of portrait painting.”
The Star Malaysia
“Refreshing” that is what you say when you see the paintings by Mr. Bhatti…. His paintings are not just a display of paint. Each and every one of the painting displayed by him deserved a second look and got more than that by the people who are a bit tired of the bizarre….Mr. Bhatti’s paintings do not belong the unearthly category….There is honesty, sincerity and true skill in his heat, head and hand, and he is to be congratulated for preserving these fast vanishing virtues….”
Dr. G.M. Mehkri
“Mr. Bhatti is one of the most distinguished artists. His long and illustrious career began in the early 1980s and still continues to flourish in the next century. During his early professional career, he taught studio courses at various art institutions and has many solo and group shows around the world to his credit. In his paintings, he has spoken out as an authoritative voice for an art that reflects the human condition, everyday life and ordinary people of the soil as his subject matter. He has insisted that painting is a high calling, serving both the self-understanding of the artist and the development of society’s awareness of itself. In his paintings, forms and their colors, light and shade, mingle to create new and unique forms that, no matter how strange, always seem pertinent.”
The Mirror
Yasmeen Shaikh
“An exhibition of paintings by Mr. Bhatti was held at the Chawkandi Gallery, includes a series of artworks depicting a way of life in Sindh that is rapidly changing…In his paintings he documents the period of time with subtlety, through the body language of subject, the textured approach to the surroundings and the ambience created by light and shade. He explores the customs within a particular social milieu….There is richness of texture and color in these paintings. One finds a strong sense of composition in the work, design apparent in the balance of space and varied brushstrokes that often appear to add contemporary touches….Mr. Bhatti is far more than an artist documenting an era, at his best he appears to capture a glimpse of the subject’s personality, fleeting expressions are captured by his brush bringing the work to a dimensions that is far from merely illustrative.”
Marjorie Husain
“Mr. Bhatti was born and grew up in mountains of Indus valley. In his early career he worked as associate to Mr. James McMurry, and Ben Gibson, while his MFA at EdinboroUniversity of Pennsylvania, and influenced by their style of painting. Soon after graduation, He was exposed to the post modern art in United States and painted canvases with contemporary concepts. His work comes forth from the socio-political chaotic scenes coupled with spiritual energy of Sufism. He starts from an idea, a concept or a feeling in his head, develops it and transforms that idea to the canvas.
He uses a variety of media and styles to explore the theme that interest him. He loves to be free and experiment with mediums, technique, colors and material he uses for his painting, by doing so, there is always something new and interesting happening in his art works. His works, ranging from contemporary to portraits, watercolor, have been collected by individuals and corporations throughout the world. “
Monika Koenig
“Mr. Bhatti was born and raised in Indus valley and his artistic talent was shaped by his great art teachers such as Anna Molka Ahmed, MrsAfzal and Saeed Akhter during his studies at Lahore. Ali began his artistic career in commercial illustration, as many artists did at the time. His first success came with an imaginative portrait of Shah Abdul Lateef Bhitae which he painted in 1981 and was unveiled at the Institute of Sindhology, Jamshoro; for the creation of this masterpiece, He will be ever remembered for his wonderful portraits.Bhatti’s career escalated as he put up his first solo show in Arts Council Karachi in late 1981, and was highly taken by the people and the press. his success could not have happened had he not been prodigiously talented, hardworking, and motivated. He spent days and nights in his studios, producing an expanding range of works in different media: ever larger canvases, collages that expanded on the style and ideas explored on his canvases, and successive new series of his contemporary paintings in all mediums.”
The Herold
“After spending twenty five years working with traditional figurative paintings, and alternative printmaking techniques Mr. Bhatti has leveraged the considerable interpretive potential of contemporary expressionism in his recent artworks. The force behind creating abstract expressionism was born out of a desire to be more conceptual and search of individual’s interaction with the environment. His work has been featured in a number of exhibitions in south Asian countries and United States. In the winter of 2015 Ali’s work was featured at Adwana Art GalleryMalaysia, as part of an International Art exhibition, a folio of five contemporary works produced in a closed edition of 15. More recently, his work was exhibited at Karachi and Houston. “
Beverly Watson
“Mr. Bhatti was born in 1951. He started his early career as portrait artist, and enjoyed great success by globally; recognized by Sindh Artists’ Guild and National Council of the Arts for his services to art in Pakistan and United States of America. He earned his MFA with painting as his major, from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, and PhD. in Interdisciplinary Arts from the OhioUniversity. He has been painting for the last 30 years, having over 30 national and international solo exhibitions and several group shows to his credit. At his later career, he moved towards abstract expressionism and contemporary paintings. In 2015, He shifted to the United States and devoted his full time to conceptual abstract paintings and joined Watercolor Art Society Houston. “
Washrag
“Mr. Bhatti is a man of significant artistic ability. His growth as a professional painter during the completion of MFA in painting at EdinboroUniversity was impressive. He is superb draftsman and colorist. Mr. Bhatti is a very bright individual and brings to his work a thorough knowledge of western art as well as eastern art.”
James M. McMurray
