A Surprising Display of Talent

Sharmin Nigar, Fantasy of Nature, acrylic on canvas, 2013.

In an unexpected show, Bengal this time showcases a hundred paintings by of all people - designers of Bangladesh Television. The surprising collection has been done by artists who started with painting but moved on to work for BTV to ensure a regular livelihood.
Anwar Hussain too, had picked up his artistic sensibility under the maestro, Zainul Abedin, who once painted on canvas or paper – and now portrayed society both in the villages and town. He talked about how these once-upon-a-time painters, got used to technical know-how. He insisted that the BTV directors and creators of story like “Rakta Karabi” gave the best time of their lives to the TV.
M. Hamid, the DG of BTV, added that for the true workers who had dedicated their lives to their work BTV was their home. He said that he had left his BCS job and rejected it repeatedly, to work with the colleagues of BTV.
In the extravaganza of BTV the works ranged from water colours to abstract impressionists. Some chose the romantic subjects and the depiction of the six seasons of Bengal. They aimed at capturing the imagination of the viewers of Bangladesh TV in order to fascinate them and sell their work to the public. It was at the art galleries—that had sprung up all over Dhaka—that they aimed their work in oil, acrylic and charcoal or mixed-media.

Sanjib Saha, Sound of Water, mixed media, 2013.

The collection of paintings are staggering in their value and originality hinting at the potential of these artists who chose the reality of TV over their first love.
Manik Dey's acrylic titled 'Lyric of Water' has multicoloured boats, touched with green a, turquoise and red. The pole, boats and human beings with red “singlet” or lungis are clear and vivid. The colours slashed on the painting are burnt sienna, green and red along with yellow ochre. There is a bit of a sky in white and blue. Harun-ur -Rashid's still life, with the green and black bottle of liquor, a piece of papaya, grapes, “lichis” etc and a glass , with a grey backdrop, reminded one of the early oils that one ventured into at the school leaving level. This piece is water-colour on paper.
'Riverside', by Mustafa Manwar is composed of sheets of grey, purple and white waves. There is a boat in the distance, with people plying for all they are worth. The river water and the sky merge in the horizon. One does not really differentiate where the boats ply and the clouds begin.
‘Nature -2' by Swapan Acharjee, has a myriad of houses and people in the distance.The water is deep green – with shades of emerald and jade. Dots and squiggles make up the land. In the distance and in the forefront we see the land in brown covered with green growth. At the back the trees and clouds have been brought in.
Shafiqul Alam's 'Pretty Women' on canvas depicts a statuesque woman with long limbs, with a lotus in front, and her bosom is covered with a shield with star patterns in dots, with ovular shapes at the end. There are tall thin pillars on her two sides. She is adorned with earrings, bangles and nose –rings along with a necklace.
Hussain Jamal Lucky's composition on paper has brown splashes; human figures can be seen on on boats. The sky is burnt sienna, as are the boats and the people. On to the paper are thrown all shades of colours – yellow, pink and green.
We move to Mahiuddin Farouqe's work, pen-and ink piece - Bonolata Sen. Here we see a girl in her grave, which is more like a modern bath-tub- all around her is the river water and the moon. There are also caves and tiny houses. There are, in addition, female monsters, in miniature sizes — We see Bonolata's jewellery, breasts and hair in her grave – done with fine ink line. This composition contains men and women's figures along with flowers. The male worship and attraction for the female form is immaculate — where the female form is something irresistible for the male.

Md Anwar Shadat, Climate Change 1, acrylic on canvas, 2013.

Runa Laila 's water-colour “Nature”- 1 brings in fallen leaves. This a picturesque composition of nature — with dark blue, navy blue, lapis- lazuli and whites, in-between. The leaves are in blue and red. It appears like some ornate design on candles.
Rafique Ahmed's 'Composition-1' has a lady with a do-tara. She is dressed in pale pink and blight blue checks. Behind her is her amour—the fisherman with his basket of small fish, dressed in a lungi. Behind the couple is a boat with white flags—also in pale , irresistible colours. In the backdrop are the trees with flowers and birds and above is the mellow disc of the golden sun in shades of vermilion, pink and orange.
Ahsanul Alam presents a modern concept of life in glass and wood. There are three leaves, with a clock-type creation above. We see again Ahmed Salim's painting of burnt wood. The painted wood pieces are burnt blue and black. The lower portions of the wood pieces are in beige and yellow colour. The five wood pieces contain three holes each. This is acrylic on canvas.
Anwar Shadat's 'Climate Change' is an undoubtedly modern concept of painting. It has squares of vermilion, rectangles of white and black. There are squares and lines at the side.
'Colour Composition' by Masudur Rahman has thick layers of paints, with gold at the back. Green and vermilion interlaces the other colours going from right to left. Yellow is also seen on the black background. It appears as if dragons with claws and fire breathing dragons are flying - or as if waves are taking over the world. Mohammed Alamgir's 'Rainy Day', an acrylic on canvas, depicting rickshaws plying with water pelting down and pedestrians under umbrellas—with electric poles askew , due to the water, — the depiction is definitely eye-catching.
Abdul Mannan's “Rabindranath” acrylic on canvas, with the bard in white robes with egret white hair, beard and moustache is also moving. There are the leafy trees and heavy banyan trees at the back.
There is no particular theme to this exhibition, the common denominator being that all these artists have been designers of BTV at some time or the other as well as art students in their early days. Whatever the motivation in bringing so many works under one roof, for the art lover it is indeed a revelation to see such interesting and rich work from individuals who would otherwise be known merely as designers of an entity that is not particularly known for its artistic virtuosity.
The exhibition ends July 3.