Forty eminent artists have portrayed beauty of Bangladesh, its people, landscape and Bangabandhu in a group show that opened on March 4 at National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in the city. Organised by Samatat Sonargaon and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the show named 'Bangabandhu Bangla desh' showcases over a hundred paintings and sculptures. Cultural affairs minister Asaduzzaman Noor inaugurated the show. Liakat Ali Lucky presided over the inaugural session. Lawmaker Moinuddin Khan Badal, senior painter Hashem Khan and historian Muntasir Mamoon were present as honourable guests. Mohammad Muniruzzaman, director of Fine Arts, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy delivered the welcome speech at the event. Works by artists like Qayyum Chowdhury, Syed Jahangir, Samarjit Roy Chowdhury, Monirul Islam, Biren Shome, Mohammad Iqbal, Nisar Hossain, Anisuzzaman, Gulshan Hossain, Shahabuddin Ahmed, Hashem Khan, Ranjit Das, Abdul Mannan, Alakesh Ghosh, Bipasha Hayat, Mohammad Kamaluddin, Dulal Chandra Gain, Shahid Kazi, Sumon Wahid, Abdus Satter Toufique and others are on display at the show. Most of the artworks are produced in art camps held in last five years at a village named Pakunda at Sonargaon in Narayanganj. The show has two distinctive group of works- on beauty of Bangladesh and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Most of the works, however, portray beauty of the delta-land.
Several works of Qayyum Chowdhury depict rural and folk tradition of the country. Qayyum's works delve deep into folk, pastoral life and traditions. Most of his works highlight folk elements; and the recurring motifs are birds, greenery, flowers, fish, rural women carrying pitchers, peasants, freedom fighters, lush foliage and bulls. His realistic and semi-realistic works on the Bangladeshi countryside were marked by his lucid and personal technique.
Syed Jahangir is greatly influenced by American Expressionism and his themes are closely connected to rural Bengal and its rivers. Harvest, fishing on a moonlit night, paddy fields are frequent themes in his works. Blue, golden, green and red are dominant colours in his work.
Samarjit Roy Chowdhury has been active in the art scene since the early 60s. His canvas features tiny fish, cats, snakes, birds and animals. His lines crisscross over the canvas. Figures -- both male and female -- intimately appear in his works. His pure geometric compositions and delicate spatial arrangements denote fantasy, reality and nostalgia. His use of colour is both meaningful and ornamental.
Ranjit Das is considered to be one of the most influential contemporary painters. As an artist he is easily recognised and can interpret diverse dimensions with his outstanding style and techniques, where colours, lines, textures and forms merge together. Das' working style gradually changed after he completed his masters from MS University, Baroda, in India. He was a direct disciple of famous artist KG Subramanian. A straight line or bar across his canvas has become his personal hallmark. His figures display diverse moods. He often concentrates on a particular limb or fraction of a human figure.
Mohammad Eunus prefers pure abstract images. His mode of expression is considered as abstract expressionism. He frequently changes the arrangement of his forms and compositions. In his works, abstraction comes into an interaction with suggestiveness and expresses many meanings of life, time and space. Eunus always tries to focus on rich texture and open space.
Nature, nostalgia and reminiscence are the prime themes of artist Gulshan Hossain's works. The painter likes to mainly portray nature and its mysterious aspects, and most of her works are form and colour-based. She mostly wants to grasp our glorious seasons and their characteristics in her works. She has always been enthralled by nature and its varied changes.
The show will continue till March 17.
