Dialogue with nature

Renowned Bangladeshi expatriate painter Khurshid Alam Saleem draws inspiration from nature and its various manifestations. He has been living in New York for over two and a half half decades. His current solo painting exhibition, titled “Nature-Colour and Vision”, is now on at Shilpangan Contemporary Art Gallery, Dhanmondi in the city.
At the current exhibition, his paintings carry his individual signature but some changes from his previous works are clearly noticeable. He is fervently fond of experimenting and trying out new--fangled shapes and techniques. The change is mainly technical and sometimes it seems he is more conscious about the space and compositions. At the exhibition, his works predominantly use collages and he directly pastes pieces of colourful fabric on his canvas. These pieces give his works a more decorative quality. The canvas appears more vibrant and lively in its slightly cracked surface. The sturdy brushstrokes, vivacious colours, diverse lines, dots and texture that Saleem uses are meant to evoke feelings, sensations and a relationship between human being and nature.
As a pure abstract expressionist, Saleem concentrates on untainted forms and compositions where blazing crimson, emerald green, bright yellow and soothing sapphire have been applied in thick overlapping layers. The painter symbolises nature, with surging colours like ash, azure, white, shades of chocolate-brown and light purple. Large and tiny bars, circles, varied geometric shapes, dashes and round shapes -- merge into each other. At the exhibition, some of his works also signify his fascination with minimal geometric compositions. His works pulsate with highly coloured and tangible tones.
Saleem began his career as a semi-abstract painter. Over time, the painter has refined his technique. As a result, lines in varied shapes, compositions and different types of objects have been added to his works. When the artist first exhibited at the beginning of the 80s at a local gallery in the city, his work was pure abstraction. From the onset of his career, the painter has played with texture and illusion for the paintings' surface effects. Space has been produced on the canvas although some of the colours have appeared flat in his works.
Saleem is a painter who is very conscious about the art movements in different parts of the world. The opportunity to tour many countries (on the occasion of his solo and group shows), roaming their galleries and museums, has allowed Saleem to closely explore the works of the master painters of those countries. In New York, the artist feels that the city has given him many opportunities to explore himself. The artist says that iconic painters Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Hans Hofmann give him a taste of liberty and inspire his individuality.
At the exhibition, in one of his paintings, one discovers amazing shapes seen briefly in many geometrical forms. Looking intimately, from various angles, one comprehends that the subject explores the layer of colours and their simple demonstration of nature.
Another painting depicts several blue, yellow and white compositions. The compositions look lively in their use of varied colours simultaneously. Both azure and crimson are also focused in the painting with some vague forms.
Born in 1951 in Mymensingh, Saleem graduated in drawing and painting from the Institute of Fine Arts (now Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka). He took a special course in advanced colour print at the Department of Art and Art Education, New York University. He has held several solo and group exhibitions in different parts of the world and has received a number of prestigious awards. Saleem was awarded Olympic medal and torch as an invited artist from the US at the Beijing Olympic 2008.
The exhibition will continue till August 22.