A potpourri of folk heritage and myth

A solo art exhibition titled “Eternal Existence” by Sourav Chowdhury opened on April 22 at La Galerie, Alliance Francaise de Dhaka.

Rupali Chowdhury, managing director of Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited, inaugurated the exhibition as chief guest. Tehmina Enayet, director of Gallery Cosmos, renowned artist Biren Shome and noted art critic Moinuddin Khaled were present as special guests.

For the last six years, Sourav Chowdhury has been portraying a series of works titled “Civilization”, creating a milieu of fantasy where mythological characters emerge in a playful mood that he tends to overlap with primitive cave paintings.

Another series called “Eternal Existence” is also about fantasy where the utopian gesture comes from his innate contemplation. He picks figures from Bangalee folk art and draws them with the same motif; the manipulation happens as a twist in the spatial overlapping with primitive cave art figures where the juxtaposition of the two seems to haunt one another. He tries to bring forward his dedication, hard work and passion for creating images on paper so that the intricate details of line and form create a depth of euphemism in his works.

Born in Rajshahi in 1987, Sourav Chowdhury received his Bachelor of Arts in Painting and completed his Masters in the same discipline from the University Of Development Alternative (UODA). The instinctive similarity of human nature from the primitive era to modern time has always amazed him. Although gloomy, ghastly and grim qualities of human nature exist in his cerebration, Chowdhury tries to bring positive energy by using bright colours and the liveliness of the figures to create a pleasant vibe in his artworks.

The exhibition will remain open until May 9 from 3pm to 9pm (Monday – Thursday) and 9am to 12 noon and 5pm to 8pm (Fridays and Saturdays).