One of the most distinct, dazzlingly colourful and quite unique artistic styles of the subcontinent is also one of the most neglected.

The art of painting those deliciously gaudy bewitching billboards that are designed to mesmerize and beckon the innocent bystander off the stifling, fly infested streets into a dark pit of temporary solace known as the desi Cinema or Saneema (as in enema) Hall.

The artists are basically trained, not in some Art Academy or "gora style" design school but invariably by a father who has during his childhood inherited the trade and subsequently skills from his own father.

It is a strictly hand-me-down-by-generation kind of job that you find yourself in rather than choose to be part of.

The artists who churn out what is essentially a strictly disposable form of desi Pop art, live in squalor and most often don't even bother to initial their masterpieces.
Having grown up in awe of cinema, both Eastern and Western and having become obsessed with the "art of cinema", not only of the films themselves, but the advertising and posters that are designed to sell the films.

In the field of horror films for example, many times at least as much emphasis is placed on the design of the poster and the theatrical trailer than the finished product itself.

Here is a nod to those unsung, unheralded artists, indeed a tribute to them for providing us with a bizarre and distinct genre of art that we at The Hot Spot feel is an intrinsic part of our culture and one that we ought to be suitable proud of. We actually went on a visit to one of the workshops hidden away in the back streets of Royal Park where the grandest, most dazzling posters are hand painted on a daily basis.

Struggling through the byways and mayhem of a post-Basant Lahori morning against all odds, the unusually temperamental car and the flow of traffic we made it to the Naz-Nagina cinema off McLeod Road. Shaken perhaps and certainly somewhat stirred we had been ably directed by Sheikh Azhar Hassan - the director of the workshop designing and producing hand-painted Lollywood film billboards.

A curving pathway to the side led us to the rubble strewn open-air studio where things were relatively quiet due to the Eid holidays. The previous day however, a number of boards had been hastily completed and dispatched for the promotion of Dacait, AllahBadshah and Musalman the major upcoming Eid attractions. Today was quiet with only a few artisans at work. As we passed, bloody droplets were being added with a steady hand by a benign elderly gentleman to the ocean-blue lettering of "Deep Blue Sea", all part of a days work.

For 36 years Sheikh Azhar Hassan has worked on the fantastical and super-heroic images that pout, scowl and bewitch in glorious technicolour, and now oversees the format and colour coordination essential in creating a certain mood or look. Successfully magnifying the A4 snaps supplied by the producers into colossal images requires ingenuity and vision. One image could be doubled, quadrupled or enlarged over twenty times depending on where it will be displayed and how large the board space is. It is also necessary to be sensitive to changes in costume design and fashion and to follow the pulse of the crowd.

Shaikh sahib has also been roped in to decorate Lahore's Chop Shoppe with the very same fabulous handpainted posters that he churns out day to day in his Royal Park workshop. He has already produced some stunning work, which can be found in the Popadom gallery in the Eye Candy section of the site.

Specific artists work on particular areas of the hoarding and thus several different works are simultaneously prepared. Sheikh Azhar prepares the design himself, deciding on the varying sizes not only of the characters but the calligraphy as well, if the pose should be frontal or profile, whether the actions should be set against a calm blue or flame-red. A grid is superimposed onto the photosnaps and each square increased in size as required. In many cases the panels are worked on separately and put together when the poster is being mounted. Tin sheets are secured over wooden boards, which are then whitewashed; the pencil drawing is then done by yet another person whilst a fourth paints in the main blocks of colour. The finishing and detailing of the features and clothes is then separately handled and the calligraphy done by a sixth expert.

On the whole the boards are recycled, whitewash not quite obliterating entire projects. Surreal figures are subsequently created as the floral sprigs of a fitted kurtha pock a not yet smooth jaw-line and strange creatures emerge, half-glimpsed from the blurry mists of dye and oil. Cinema is not the only medium to have profted from this grass roots advertising, Sheikh Azhar has made 100ft and 150 ft posters for Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto respectively. The colour schemes usually employ the loudest of colours used in the most garish manner - yet the end result can often be quite breathtaking, emulating the best "instant" or comic book inspired art. The villains, painted in the most malevolent shades of green and purple, glare down lecherously while the hero stands bloodstained but victorious amidst the rubble. The cinemascopic extravaganza of heroism, villainy and passion require larger than life projection, without this bastion of fantasy, what remains

We shall be devoting a page within the Pop Art gallery in our Eye Candy section solely to the Billboard Art of the Sub Continent. Ranging from Filmi Billboards to those of the notorious "Chinese Dentists", the quack "Fortune Tellers" and "Faith Healers" and so on. Here is desi street culture pop art with attitude. Enjoy!

The Desi Pop Art Gallery has been unleashed and is found in the Popadom section in the Eye Candy area.