Trailing the root
In “Trailing the Root”, artists at the Dhaka Art Centre are holding an exhibition with modern overtones from May 16-22. Art enthusiasts, who came to admire the post-modern work certainly paused to appreciate the work that the members of “One Step Ahead”.
Shabin Shahriar had burnt wood figures of people formed in a circle. Some of the figures appear like clay dolls with outstretched hands, hair tied in buns and flowing saris with borders. Other featured women carrying pitchers. All around were blossoms and circles, containing pitchers and children. Apart from this mixed media work, which was called “Feeling -2”, there was “Feeling 45” which was also in mixed media. The piece has an owl, dressed up in a glowing gold frock with a yoke and spangles at the bottom. The backdrop of the owl looked like pieces of carved tiles. “Feeling-3” by Shabin had two large cattle at the base, and two small ones on top of four pieces of tiles that joined up. Apart from the dainty cattle, which were almost child-like, were human forms in a similar form.
Golam Farouque Bebul's acrylic work in blue and beige appeared like a mixture of modern work -- as if a wall was presenting various types of creations, some like a collection of powdered dust, and another like a huge mask in black and cream. Bebul's acrylic painting -7 was beige upon beige layer. The main layer contained squiggles of man-monsters playing imaginary musical instrument. His last painting in acrylic was a haunting enigma with a crescent moon and scattered machine parts, thrown over the black and purple creation.
Maynul Islam Paul had carved and dented blocks of stone -- each representing “Silent Discourse”. They all had apertures. The stone piece by Maynul Islam, almost white in colour, was a post-modern piece, which could represent anything.
Nurul Amin's “Couple” in clay, evoked emotions of joy and happiness, as one expected at a wedding ceremony. The man's head was covered with a green and grey “gamchha”, while the woman had a pink and grey “orna” for a cover. In the background there was an enormous pink flower and a green banana tree. His “Bishonnota”-1 was a circular clay piece. It contained a large eye, some trees, with clumps of leafy tops, some ponds and dry land. The artist's other clay composition had variations of rose shades. Two hands were prominent. A man encircled with barbed wire played a central role.
Md. Zillur Rahman's “A Part of Nature” was a combination of ochre, burnt sienna and white. Here one found sweeps of tree branches and twinkling stars. In the next one, was a crescent moon and layers of aged tree trunks. Zillur Rahman's figure with Nature revealed a woman on a cloudy day.
It was refreshing to see such appealing paintings and sculpture at the show.
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