The Painter of Nostalgia
Kherokhata or a sketchbook is more of a personal thought processing space than just a piece of notebook. It is a plane onto which the artist reflects his everyday life. But this very sketch book turns into a historical material when it belongs to a person whose contribution is immeasurable in the art realm. Ahmed Nawaz, an internationally acclaimed artist, one of the founders of legendary Pop Rock band Souls, comes up with his sketch book exhibition titled "Kolom o Kalite Ahmed Nawazer Khero Khata".
He is an artist of discursive language and a painter of social dogma, politics, and love. Through his paintings, he has attempted to illuminate the dreams of the individuals he met, on his canvas. In other words every abstract stroke he makes contains "Nostalgia, stories of 1971, Bangabandhu, melancholia and absurdity, alienation of the people and the society," expresses Nawaz.
Inspired by a shoemaker, Nawaz started his journey as a painter at a very early age. But in the early seventies the nature of his brush strokes and ideas changed dramatically when he got admitted in Chittagong Charukola Institute. At that time the first line up of Souls got its shape-- Sazed Ul Alam and Lulu on guitars, Newaz on percussion, Roni on drums, and Tajul on vocals.
Before joining the art institute he arranged his first exhibition on the walls of Chittagong City Corporation. Inspired by the fury and the demands of the students and the political movement of 1969, he incorporates the national attitude towards a free country in his art works. Eventually it draws national attention for its content and form.
His recent work deals with time and space, desperate objects, figures, ideas and so on. Personal stories and history shape his work and he criticises the hegemonic role of history that forces us to create a dominant meaning. He loves to play with the distorted forms of subject and connects them with the mundane world.
Nawaz adds, "Now, there are two ways to appreciate this work, one is by looking at the images that differ tremendously from each other separately and the other is by trying to relate these figures to form one whole meaning. Though the former is easy, the latter is unquestionably tough. But those who are looking for some challenge this piece will not disappoint them".
Once upon a time we used to think that by painting someone's image, a painter stole his or her soul. And in the post modern world, painters like Nawaz do not steal a soul but paint it in different forms instead of a dominant subjective reality.
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