Halimul Islam Khokon's 'Images of Inner Vision' at AFD

Every artist has his/her inner vision to express creativity. What makes an artist different from others is the individual's idiosyncratic rendition of artistic thoughts into reality. Halimul Islam Khokon's ongoing 5th solo painting exhibition titled Images of Inner Vision at La Galerie can be regarded as innovative one. Renowned artist and critic Mustafa Zaman inaugurated the exhibition on 20 July.

The displayed artworks at the show embody experimental abstract art, which has been emanated from his well-developed practice of ceramic artistry. They also evoke inspirational nuance from the Bangladeshi culture, tradition and history. Several paintings depict primitive cave art where animal forms are conspicuous. Various textural abstract forms predominantly appeared in his works. Khokon often focuses on the power of animal figures and shapes bringing patterns from moss-covered as well as paint-peeled walls or from glittering aqueous shapes.

“In the exhibition, one witnesses a series of works where a certain aesthetic routine is employed to achieve the desired results,” says Mustafa Zaman, “There are works in which reference to animals are obvious, and there are others where textures and shapes fill the picture-plain, fully abdicating the idea of representation. These are imageries through which Halimul, perhaps, makes an attempt to return to an imaginary 'plain of origin'”.

Halimul Islam Khokon is a seasoned ceramic artist who earned his MFA from the Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka and studied in Japan under the supervision of Professor Ryoji Koie, who is revered as one of the great masters of Japanese ceramics.

The exhibition, opening from Monday to Thursday from 3pm to 9pm, and on Fridays and Saturdays from 9am to12noon and 5pm to 8pm, will conclude on 2 August.