The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

"The collection of Kuhu's works in this exhibition presents the viewer a rare opportunity to see the way an artist's conceptualises work. Each piece commands the immediate attention of the viewer- and there are many that compel by themselves-but when the pieces are taken together one begins to sense a process, an internal logic that moves quietly back and forth to link these mixed productions. The pieces are not necessarily bound by a set of images, though certain images persist, or by a certain perspective or even the use of certain colours or textures, because they appear at first glance to be an eclectic lot, ranging from drawings and paintings, to carved wood and moulded terracotta, to painted and stitched fabrics," said Tony K Stewart, an art collector living in the USA, at the solo exhibition of artist Kuhu titled 'The Making Kuhu Art' at the Gallery Chitrak in the capital.

Renowned vocalist Runa Laila was present as the chief guest, while artists Rafiqun Nabi and Shahid Kabir were also present as special guest on the occasion.

Her present description of sensuous, dusky women, peeping though curtains of Dhaka rickshaws, are memories of her student days at the Institute of Fine Arts, years back. Through the image of the attractive women with flowing hair, cherub lips, luminous eyes and eager looks, she recalls her trips through Dhaka before she went to study at Dieppe, France.

It has become a much-too-predictable cliché that all artists must reveal something of their emotional and intellectual heritage in their work, the linking of artistic production to autobiography, if not over-worked. But we see the pull of a dual professional trajectory in her work. Her self-professed longing for and pursuit of the finer arts of painting and drawing crossing paths with the impulse to an immediate utility - at one end the drawn human image, volume and motion often intimated rather than made explicit, on the other, an apparently derivative piece of craft deployed by those humans to meet necessities, such as, a chair, table and shawl.

Originality of artistic conception and vision yield to the artisan's reproduction, which lead to mechanical multiplication that eventually wends its way back to originality of conception, but now directly toward a pragmatic end.

It is that transition from art to craft to tool or utensil through the mediating forms of the replicated image that reveals the direction of her personal creative process and makes clear that; this is not a simple mimicry of suggested forms.

Although Kuhu had to undergo the rituals of outdoor academic training in her student years, it was portraiture that she enjoyed most, being guided by the now Spain-based Shahid Kabir and Rafiqun Nabi. Her colleagues like Jamal Ahmed and Nasreen Begum gave her more encouragement. Today her drawings in marvellous vermilions, blues and earthy hues are unique indeed and they follow the features of her muse Fatima, her favourite model in Dhaka.

Kuhu brought in the motifs of the rickshaw painters with exotic flowers and vines, suggestion of rickshaw curtains and other integral parts, and then fits in her nebulous models. She sometimes adds other flora and fauna too to her main subjects, in order to lend interest and variation.

In her earlier series, Kuhu had brought in the enticing 'Burqa' clad women and the other imaginary female characters from the streets. Now, her women are dressed in stark white sari with red border that is the epitome of the Bengali womanhood in Kuhu's mind.

In this exhibition, the textiles for the most part started life as old saris-decorative functional pieces now worn out, shredded, recycled and layered on canvas or patched into quilts, dyed and stamped with their original patterns. But that same printed cloth is painted afresh with watercolour then overlaid with stamped woodblock imprints of paint and ink, a hand-applied mechanical process that connects each individual piece into a common arrangement or the assembled cloth is subjected to the repetitive stitch- the traditional kantha needlework and strung with shell buttons. If the migration of replicated images is not obvious at this point, it becomes unmistakable in one textile collage plastered with glossy four-colour printed reproductions of Michelangelo, overlaying the strips of cloth with one of the defining and most oft-reproduced iconic images of western art-appropriately enough the infusion of Adam with life, the ultimate creator fashioning the first unique individual who in turns spawns a prolifically replicated humanity.

Though done in chalk, the merging of the medium was such that the artworks appeared like sparkling painted images, which one cannot help but marvel at. The Bangladeshi flag was included in one piece.

As one progresses to the other rooms of the exhibit, one comes across buoyant collage artwork, done with fabrics, which would make any art collector intrigued. The textiles originated from discarded 'saris,' now torn, recycled and put on the canvas in layers and appearing like quilts at times. These are dyed and retain their original motifs.

The haute couture expert of excellent repute, Kuhu, is naturally inclined to creations such as these to lend variety to her exhibit of 50 amazing pieces which art lovers flocked to examine for hours on the opening day at the weekend. The buzzing viewers included both expatriates and locals, who sipped raw tea under the open evening sky, after their numerous trips to the several rooms of the gallery.

Destined to draw, Kuhu has held five solo exhibitions and over 40 joint displays. She was awarded the Shaheed Nonah Miah prize for drawing.

The exhibition will be concluded on February 15.