The New Nation - Internet Edition

Symphony in drawing

Symphony

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

Slow by steadily, Ranjit Das has carved out his niche among the new generation painters in Asia. Winning the Best Prize in the Asian Biennial gave the imprimatur of international standing but promises of a talented creative mind were revealed in his works much before that milestone. Painting has been a painstaking and committed creative exploration for Ranjit as he has groped for perfection in conceptualising and execution in various mediums and techniques. Starting with abstraction in forms and composition in paintings he gradually divided the space between abstract forms and concrete almost like graphic design. Not content with what fascinated and absorbed him in this phase he turned the composition upside down, making the concrete stand out vibrantly as in bold relief with a background of pulsating colours and minute motifs," said eminent art critic Hasnat Abdul Hye at solo art exhibition of Ranjit Das titled 'Symphony in Drawing' at the Shilpangan Gallery in the capital.

The exhibition of Ranjit Das has acrylic and washes in watercolour, apart from Chinese colour and ink and charcoal. Collage and mixed media have been used as well.

In the exhibition, Ranjit's subject, over the years, has been lyrical depiction of man and his environment. This time, along with careful portraits with quick strokes, he has brought in domestic animals like as bulls, horses, dogs, goats anf sheep. Which he comes across during his frequent visits to his village.

The beauty of the drawings was the economy of strokes and the powerful lines.

'Bauls' with 'Dhol' and 'Dotara,' apparently in dream, have been depicted. Other subjects include women, casually fixing their hair or tending to their young ones adhering to their breasts.

Ranjit said, "Starting from 2002, all subjects in my paintings have their origin in the rural areas."

Men smoking 'Hukkah,' women plaiting their neighbour's hair, individuals in 'Burqa' and others sporting goggles, some crossing the ferry were typical of his subjects.

One of the works has a vibrant golden background with marked, silver dots for texture. The mother and the child figures have been done with watercolour and they too have minimal strokes. The impact was dramatic and daring.

A blind 'Baul' singer, who sometimes comes to Dhaka, has been immortalised in Ranjit's lines and colours. The lonely figure of a gloomy woman, wrapped in thoughts of her own, has been presented effectively too.

The landscapes depict boats, launches, the riverbanks, along with bold sweeps bringing in the horizon and the river. These were done in deft charcoal lines.

Before going to school, as a child, Ranjit used to draw on walls and the floor with charcoal. Having done his BFA from Dhaka, he finished his Masters from Baroda, studying under KG Subramanian.

Ranjit said that Sunil Das and Monirul Islam have inspired him too. At the Institute of Fine Arts, he had Anwarul Haq, Abdul Baset and Rafiqun Nabi as his guides. M Kibria and Safiuddin Ahmed have also been his mentors.

Ranjit has had 19 solo exhibitions in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi in India, Montreal in Canada and Karachi in Pakistan. He has taken part in 75 joint exhibitions in India, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, USA, Bulgaria, France, Kuwait and Qatar. He has ten awards to his credit, including the Grand Award in the 7th Asian Biennale (1995).

This is his first solo exhibition in Bangladesh in four years, as he was busy working on his exhibitions in India - at the National Art Gallery in New Delhi, Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai and ICCR Gallery in Hyderabad.

"It is important for an artist to get exposure abroad, so that art enthusiasts worldwide are aware of the quality of Bangladeshi art," said Ranjit.

The exhibition will end on May 28.

Egg tempera workshop & exhibition

Art & Culture Report

"I love this tempera medium. I have worked in it for 35 years apart from doing oils and acrylic. This technique has been used by Mughal artists and also by the painters of the Ajanta and Elora caves. One has to concentrate a lot when working in this medium. This is the cheapest possible medium that will last for a long time. This technique existed even before oil painting and will stand the rigours of weathers more than oil," said Shahid Kabir, who is in Bangladesh for a while from Spain, conducted a workshop with over 300 students at the Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University, recently. The paintings, the result of the workshop, were exhibited at Zainul Gallery-2 at the Fine Arts Institute of Dhaka University.

"This is done by mixing the egg yolk with water and linseed oil on the palette, and then applying the colours with the mixture. I told the students to see apparently unimportant things around them and use them as their subjects.

I myself like to paint the simple things in life. Imagination did not take an important part in creating these paintings. I tried to show the young painters to see the objects with spirit," said Shahid. "We selected 250 works from the 400 that were done. The young people are our future: they are our new generation of Picassos and Frida Kahlos. I tried to guide the painters to depict what they felt and what they loved. It was interesting to see that the artists ranged from 20 years old 1st year students to a retired Air force officer of 70," he said.The exhibition was indeed a display of works of promising artists. Ananya had a still life with red pomegranates on a bowl with succulent seeds all around them. Gazi Taslima done a red and green dragonfly with pink and white transparent wings. Faisal Ahmed had a collection of coloured jars in his painting. Abul Kalam Shamsuddin depicted a vagabond woman in a torn sari lying on the roadside.

Queenie, an established artist, also participated in the workshop. She said, " Workshops as we know generally include senior artists or consists of only a small group. This workshop was different and open to all artists. When the artists went about their work four days, it was like a 'mela' with the painters spread out over the lawns of the Fine Arts Institute, verandas and an auditorium at the back. I myself did some rickshaws."

MM Maizuddin presented Shahid Kabir's portrait with vibrant colours and careful lines.

Murad Hossain had a buffalo with a rider carrying an umbrella in a field of brown and yellow grass. Nilima Sarkar played with they eye of a woman and presents it in indigo and red with a striking effect.

Shamsun Nahar depicted an exotic bird with a shaded backdrop of earthy colours.

Nazma Akter brought in a handful of leaves on a blue background with tiny bottle green leaves contained in it.

Mithun Dutta glorified nature, along with Mousumi Sultana. One brings in red and yellow flowers, with a lot of pale blue texture work at the back, while the other brought in fleshy white magnolia along with their enveloping dark leaves.

The Exhibition was ended on May 17.

Saleem’s solo exhibition in Shenyang

Art & Culture Report

A solo painting exhibition by artist Khurshid Alam Saleem, a Bangladeshi artist based in New York, was held from May 4 to 8 in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province, in China. The exhibition was held at the historic Forbidden City Palace Museum in Shenyang.

The Ambassador of Bangladesh to China Munshi Faiz Ahmad and Deputy Secretary General of Shenyang Municipal Government Zeng Bo jointly inaugurated the exhibition.

Among others, Director of Shenyang International Cultural Exchange Centre Zhang Yi, Head of Shenyang Olympic Committee Wang Rui and foreign expert of China Radio International ABM Salauddin were also present on the occasion.

A number of Government officials, cultural activists, teachers and students of different universities in Shenyang also attended the function.

The exhibition featured 34 art works in oil colour in abstract expressionist mode. The titled of the exhibition was 'Image of Nature'.

Last year, another solo painting exhibition by Saleem was jointly organised by the Chinese Cultural Ministry and the Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing. Saleem is also expected to participate in the 3rd Beijing International Art Biennale in July this year.

Printmaking workshop

Art & Culture Report

A week-long printmaking workshop was inaugurated at the Fine Arts Institute of Dhaka University on May 18.

The Fine Arts Institute and Bengal Foundation jointly organised the workshop under the coordination by Prof Nirmalendu Das and Prof Pinaki Barua of Biswabharati University of Santiniketan in India.

Eminent artist Monirul Islam inaugurate the workshop, while artists Nirmalendu Dash, Pinaki Barua, Mahmudul Haque, Rokeya Sultana, Rafiqun Nabi, Abul Barq Alvi, Director of the Fine Arts Institute Abdus Shakoor and Director of Bengal Gallery Subir Chowdhury, participants, among others, were present on the occasion.

About 40 students of the Fine Arts Institute are attending the workshop. Besides, country's eminent artists will take part in the workshop as guest artists.