A kaleidoscopic display

Clockwise (from top-left): Artworks by Samarjit Roy Chowdhury, Rafiqun Nabi, Rezwanur Rahman, Jamal Ahmed and Sulekha Chaudhury.

Dhaka Art Centre, Dhanmondi, is a newly established art centre with varied activities. A group art exhibition featuring the works of 101 painters is now on at the gallery. The exhibition is the outcome of a two-day art camp held on January 1 and 2 this year as part of the inauguration of the centre. The art camp's main aim was to assemble artists belonging to different age groups, working on diverse themes and different mediums. The event has also become a platform, encouraging the exchange of ideas between senior painters with promising painters of Bangladesh.
As usual, a workshop creates an atmosphere where an artist can be experimental and share his or her thinking process with others. An artist gets the chance to observe other painters working process and techniques.
It is noteworthy that the most prominent painters of the first, second and third generations' works are on display at the exhibition. This is a unique and rare sight at the exposition.
It is, however, a matter of regret that some established painters are far away from their personal hallmarks. They engage themselves with different expressions. Some have a tendency for experimentation, where colours, textures and tones have been employed from different angles.
Promising painters should be more conscious of exploring creativity and maintaining their own style and technique. Works should be more depictive and expressive and such works should be included at the exhibition.
At the exhibition, earnest painters like Rafiqun Nabi, Samarjit Roy Chowdhury, Monirul Islam, Shahid Kabir, Kalidas Karmakar, Shahabuddin Ahmed, Chandra Shekhar Dey, Mohammad Eunus, Ranjit Das, Shamsuddoha, Golam Faruque Bebul and Anisuzzaman's works have enriched the exhibition. Their subjects denote rural Bengal and its people, aquatic life, romanticism, human emotions and inner visions, Liberation War, architectural forms, folk culture and other themes.
At the beginning of the '80s, a number of painters have been considered as social conscious painters. Known as thinking artists whose works invite viewers to engage cerebrally with the images they create. Their themes are closely related to varied social-cultural and economical issues. This group of painters portrays our political instability, religious bigotry and superstitions. Distorted visages and deformed figures are recurring themes in this group of painters. Experimentation with themes, forms and objects are common feature in their works. Nisar Hossain, Shishir Bhattacharjee, Atia Islam Anne, Dilara Begum Jolly, Dhali Al Mamun are the most significant painters in this group.
At the exhibition, a number of painters' works delve deep into our nature, riverine life and tranquil beauty of rural Bengal. At the same time, their works depict pure bucolic culture, quiet environment, romanticism, sensuality and relationships of human beings. Most of the works are not technically enriched but have been nicely documented. Their modes of expressions are different in terms of themes. The works are semi-abstract and realistic, while figures are highlighted in some of their works. Artists of this group include Hashem Khan, Abul Barq Alvi, Alokesh Ghosh, Jamal Ahmed, Kuhu, Gulshan Hossain, Mokhlesur Rahman, Mohammad Moniruzzaman, Samsul Alam Azad and others. In the group, Jamal Ahmed and Kuhu are figurative painters. They portray people in their different moments and social conditions, and the socially underprivileged are often their subjects.
In recent years, a number of painters have been doing well, like Shulekha Chaudhury, Maksuda Iqbal Nipa, Anukul Chandra Majumdar, Rezwanur Rahman and Nagarbasi Barman. Among them, Shulekha's works are expressive. For her subject matter, she chooses society, more particularly social injustice and discrimination. Her protest against bigotry, dishonesty, duplicity and other evil deeds are also noticeable in her works.
Anukul Majumdar likes to portray human emotions. His works focus on the relationship between mother and child. Vibrant colours and figures in motion are the common features in his works.
Maksuda Iqbal Nipa has been trying to carve a niche in our art arena She likes to experiment with colours in all its various facets. Texture gives a distinct look to her work. She applies colour directly, piling up thick layers on the canvas. She concentrates more on the application process. This creates a hallmark for her canvas.
The exhibition ends today.