‘11 Gates to Visual Basics’ underway at AFD
The solo art exhibition, titled 11 Gates to Visual Basics by artist Kazi Salahuddin Ahmed has begun at La Galerie, Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD).
Nasrul Hamid, MP, State Minister, Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh attended the opening ceremony as the chief guest. Architect Iqbal Habib was also present as the special guest.
In 11 Gates to Visual Basics, Kazi Salahuddin Ahmed employs trays used in road construction to carry the hot mix of asphalt. For Ahmed, the object and process come together and the artwork as a product of contemplation, is displaced to let the co-opted object – tin sheets recycled into tray — stand for catastrophes and their effects.
Catastrophes have an uncanny power to linger on our social and mental spheres. However, Ahmed’s employment of a visual language developed with the used trays not only works like a vassal for memory, but also serves as conduit to the actual world – both man-made and natural. In fact, the installation serves a dual purpose – it takes the viewers closer to nature and also hints at the human survival instinct linked to the idea of building. The artist forms an alignment with the object with the minimum of intervention by way of markings and painted areas – they let the object retain their original character. If art is a form of mediation, 11 Gates to Visual Basics bridges the gap between the man-made and the natural. Ahmed’s new creation unpeels some of the most relevant narratives of civilisational implications. However, they are only hinted at by way of demonstrating how man-made products are remade to address the natural. On the question of time, the show also threads the past with the future by letting us know that things must go through mutations. .
Kazi Salahuddin Ahmed is a prolific artist who has participated in many group exhibitions and solo exhibitions both at home and abroad, including France, the United States, India, Pakistan, the UK, China, Japan, Australia, Nepal, Iran and Yugoslavia.
The exhibition will be open to all till Saturday, February 15, in La Galerie, AFD.
Comments