It comes as a surprise (though on reflection it should not) when one comes upon Ali's life drawings. They are classical in the best sense of the word, and surprisingly the sense of distance, at one remove from reality, seen in his other work is entirely absent. Here he luxuriates in the pleasures of line and volume and demonstrates the wealth of experience and understanding of the realm of art, writ large, which informs all his other work.
Keith Hunter
