Kazi Ghiyasuddin and Yamazaki Yasutaka’s exhibition underway in Japan

A duet exhibition by two abstract masters Kazi Ghiyasuddin and Yamazaki Yasutaka is underway in Tokyo, Japan. The exhibition was opened on August 31 and will continue until September 11 at Gallery Sugino, Tokyo.

Kazi Ghiyasuddin's artwork.

The music of nature in its infinite splendour is a constant inspiration for Ghiyasuddin, who captures nature's underlying harmony of colours in his work. With an illustrious career spanning over five decades, Ghiyasuddin continues to influence numerous artists of Japan and Bangladesh. His watercolour works evoke feelings of poetry, while his oil paintings delineate the magnanimity of epics. He adeptly blends the style and taste of the East and the West to create lyrical compositions. The two opposing characters of oil and water provide him with the means to explore the connected dualities hidden within life, nature and the universe.

He is inspired by the philosophies of Paul Klee. He was the first to receive a doctoral degree in Fine Arts from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Living between Tokyo and Dhaka, his outstanding skills have earned him popularity in both the Japanese and Bangladeshi contemporary art scenes. In 2018, Ghiyasuddin was awarded The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, by the Emperor of Japan. He has four rare art book publications and around a hundred solo exhibitions to his credit.

While echoing his teacher and mentor Mohammad Kibria's deeper inner pursuit, Ghiyasuddin articulates sentiments which value truth above beauty, and joy above learning. He has forged a spiritually fulfilling dialogue with nature. The canvas becomes a site for consecration through the elegant mingling of colours and shapes, use of signs, runes and scribbles, and an expansive vastness which allows the viewer to relish the result of years of patient contemplation, unparalleled sensitivity, and dedication to one's craft.

On the other hand, Yamazaki Yasutaka studied lithograph under Mohammad Kibria at Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka. Mohammad Kibria studied copperplate prints at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music under Professor Tetsuro Komai. Yasutaka also held his first solo lithograph exhibition in Dhaka in 1979, and his second solo lithograph exhibition at Gallery Shunjyu, Japan in the same year. Later, Yamazaki worked mainly on oil paintings.

"I saw Yamazaki Yasutaka's litho works like soft watercolour wash with opaque forms and minimalist approach. A type of meditative quality is found in his works," says Professor Nisar Hossain, Dean, Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka. "Kibria Sir was influenced by Zen philosophy, minimalistic approach and rock garden. The asymmetric features of nature, organic forms and a spiritual quality are prominent characteristics in his works. Ghiyasuddin and Yasutaka's works evoke meditative feelings, organic forms and shapes that are devoid of vibrant colours. Circles, calligraphy and monochromic patterns are special features of Yasutaka's works."

Born in Waseda, Shinjuku, Tokyo, in 1952, Yasutaka graduated from Toyama Metropolitan High School in 1971. He has a diploma from Tokyo Gakugei University in 1978. The artist held several solo and group exhibitions at various prestigious galleries in Japan. National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, and the Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka, have Yasutaka's artworks in their collections. In 2015, four artists Kazi Ghiyasuddin, Takahashi Toshiaki, Ikemoto Yojiro and Yamazaki Yasutaka exhibited their works at Gallery EM Shinjuku, Japan.