Carrying the Flag to Canada

Syed Iqbal is a senior artist and moved to Montreal in 1994. He went on to Toronto to work in his surrealistic and abstract ways. His solo exhibition was covered by The Toronto Star in 2011 along with Canadian national media coverage. His exhibit “No Pain No Gain” was displayed at the Ottowa's permanent building.
In “Tears of Nature”, his 180 pieces were sold. He now exhibits in the coming month with 10 pieces, five of which he painted in Dhaka. This is scheduled to be held at the Bengal Gallery.

Mindscape

In one of his “Tears of Nature” pieces, the style is abstract, and the painter is concerned with global warming – which is a problem all over the world. The artist depicts the destruction of flora and fauna. In another piece of the same series, he shows his protest of the destruction of life on earth by the jaundiced yellow eating up the ruby red and indigo blue of nature. It was carried in the All Canada Competition among 800 other participants.
Another piece from the series is “Lord Krishna with Red” where the God of love Krishna has vermilion on his forehead. “Radha in Brindaban” depicts a woman in a forest with green all around. The surrounding is green to bring the image of a forest. The painting has warm ruby-red colours, and the young maiden has only one eye, the hair long dark, seemingly swirling in the wind. He has used blue, yellow and green for the backdrop. As he now lives in Canada, there are birch trees.
So there are changes in his vision, he says. The evil black has destroyed the earth, the only habitable planet in the universe. Such is the obvious message of the man with the theme for a dream.
In “Mindgap” which consists of two large paintings, the artist reflects the hazards of life in Canada. The two paintings carry vermilion, indigo emerald green. The artist uses resin on acrylic to get a crystal effect, with the colour being shown from within. The images, at times, are surrounded by silver, green and black. One sees a man from one side. This image has an angel's wings in white – seen from one side, apparent from one angle are silver, green and black. The planet is depicted as blue to reflect the pain that man has to bear while on earth.
Iqbal, who has been in Dhaka for five months, depicts the Savar tragedy with tremendous effect. Human beings are squashed and their bodies appear spilled on the side. The painting has a white sandwich effect. The artist uses white, red and blue with tiny parallel bars thrown in.

Two works from the series ‘Tears of Nature’.

The romantic piece “Memories of Love” has a white texture. Here the protagonists hold hands. The couple, 30-million miles apart, can feel their beloved within themselves. It is all in white with Bangla calligraphy in it in brown. At the bottom is a girl with long tresses, falling in a triangle. The use of white is amazing.
In “Tears of Nature, once more, Nature is shown as a black dot. The artist believes that eventually all living beings on earth will disappear. Iqbal laments the fact that even though political powers like the US and China have been meeting in for five years to have discussions on world environment, they never agree on any point. The evil black is overwhelming, the clown nose, lips and cheeks are red while the face is pale yellow.
In “Eve”, we find a dark young woman with vermilion lips and “teep”. Another image with a female face has eyes at the top in white: the skin is brown, while the red lips appear at the bottom.
In “Paran Pakhi” or “Soul Bird" there is a white dove, flying confidently over a woman's face. The eye is white, while the lips are pink, and the layers of blue used range from indigo to gray-blue.
In “Dub Shatar” or “Underwater Life, the figures are done in blue and brown—and they merge together. In “Aqua life”, the underwater existence is depicted as unhealthy and crammed. A woman appears like a snake, underwater.
For him Buddha represents enlightenment and the sun. The style remains semi surrealism like much of his work.