The New Nation - Internet Edition

Exhibition: Image of nature

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

“Saleem's abstract compositions have a striking impact with their bold, roughly geometric colour areas and unique contrasts between rugged texture and vibrant colour saturation. Thus one is initially struck by the sheer physical presence of his paintings, and only later further seduced by the more intimate consummate colourist. Above all, Saleem is a luminous yet subdued range of sunny yellows, transcendent blue, earthy reds and other skilfully which he achieves exquisite harmonies unlike anything else in contemporary painting," said Ed McCormack, one of the original contributing editors of Andy Warhol's interview, has written extensively on art and popular culture about Saleem at the solo art exhibition of Khurshid Alam Saleem titled 'Image of Nature' at the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts in the capital. The exhibition was concluded recently.

Saleem said, "Nature is his constant inspiration, although my paintings are a far cry from the conventional landscapes. I try to capture the essence of the atmosphere around myself, which can be subtle. Through the language of painting, I suggest both the elements of calm and restlessness. Some of my works appear to be mystically suspended, while the bold rectangle is a recurrent form."

Saleem, settled in New York for the past 22 years, His works throb with chromatic and tactile tones.

"People are sometimes confused when they first see my art works. But longer inspection elicits a completely different reaction. Once a connection is established between the image and the reality, between experience and imagination, the last blurry lines of hesitation disappear. Real and unreal become one, the past and future merge," said Saleem.

The bold geometrical forms attract one, and later, on closer inspection, one is fascinated by the forms and colours. His rusty reds and overwhelming blues along with the warm yellows blend with one another as contemporary paintings seldom do. The colours merge with one another and are muted, leaving a mosaic like effect. Rectangular shapes derive from his broad strokes. Rocks appear to be shining under layers of water.

The lines, dots and texture that Saleem used were meant to evoke feelings and emotions so that viewers could discover art in nature. The attempt was not a photographic one.

Saleem said, "I find inspiration in the tiniest detail of nature - a drop of rain water, a falling autumn leaf, a speck of white in the blue sky, a crack on earth after a long-lasting drought, bark of a tree that bears witness to many visitors resting underneath. Each of these elements contains a new story for me and a fresh invitation to go aboard on a new journey. A viewer can take the same moments depicted on the canvas, process them in his or her mind and experience a completely unexpected discovery," he said.

Saleem has worked under the print-maker Krishna Reddy in the US and is influenced by Mark Rothko.

He has taken part in 70 international group exhibitions. His paintings hang in the galleries in different parts of the world such as China and Japan. He does his most works in his studio, as his mood takes him.

Exhibition: 4 young artists painting exhibition

Art & Culture Report

Works of all students of fine arts are experimental. Most of them concentrate to break the traditional flow of works. Somebody experiments with colours, some other with subjects.

Recently an exhibition of four young artists was held at the Zainul Gallery of the Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University. Participants were the students of different departments of the Institute. Participant artists were Anupam, Jagadbandhu Adhikary (Ranju), M Mehedi Hasan and Pijush Sarkar. Forty artworks of the four artists took place in the show.

In 'Lotus' series of Pijush, he emphasised on floral beauty. Beauty of nature and rainy season were described in his works. He had 10 works in the exhibition. His works were in mixed-media. Mehedi worked in abstract form where there was a combination between the western art and oriental art. Of his works, 'Golden Past' was mentionable. In the work, face was not focused, but he tried to give a touch with black colour where there was a vivid description of present and past.

Works of Anupam attracted the viewers where series of 'Composition' was mentionable. Natural beauty and expressions were took place in his works. In works of Jagadbandhu's aesthetic beauty of nature and women was presented significantly. In the show, he had eight works titled 'She.' These were mixed works of wood and metal.

Art Criticism : Saleem’s artistic equation: Colour + Textuality = Image of Nature

I first encountered Saleem's work in the vibrant Beijing art scene. An abstract painter, he appeared as a rare find in a contemporary Asian art scene largely dominated with figurative works and mainly concerned with an ever-changing society of urban living. Saleem instead seeks to explore nature, with a vision that encompasses both his experience in Bangladesh and America.

Saleem was born and raised in Bangladesh, but his artistic education took place in both Bangladesh and New York, where he is now based. Like many artists, he sought the peaceful retreat of Long Island, where the natural landscape is a constant and very appropriate source of inspiration.

Saleem's paintings are interpretations of nature, set outside of any time of geographical frame but imbued with a multi-culturalism. His paintings open a dialogue with the soul as they reveal the 'sublime' nature of the world. His art is a source of meditation: a careful viewer who explore each work, moving from the border picture to the different layers, is penetrated by the art. Once the viewer allows him or herself to be enveloped by the painting, it acts as a refuge for the mind and spirit and provides a sense of harmony and balance. The works take the audience on a journey of self-exploration and growth, led by the artist's own journey. Saleem's paintings aim at providing an experience that exceeds the boundaries of the purely aesthetic by expressing the transcendence of nature and filing the spectator with a sense of the discovering the unknown.

Saleem has sought to represent the metaphysics of nature through a fusion of colours and modulated forms. The amateur's first impressions are quite contrasted. The technique of the brush and wash and the relationship between nature and its elements gives the viewer a sense of classicism, especially as far as Asian art is concerned. The washes of paint for instance recall the watery quality of ink landscape painting and calligraphy and abstraction have often been compared. However, the arrangement and strong expressionism are derived from western modern and contemporary artistic endeavours, from Turner and the contemporary Bangladeshi artists. Like the former artists, Saleem also explore 'the moods of nature' and optical phenomena in his work. The artist acknowledges the work of both Mark Rothko and Mohammad Kibria, one of the outstanding Bangladeshi artists of the fifties, as an important source of inspiration. This plural heritage led the artist to create a very personal and intimate style. Like his illustrious predecessors, the artist is concerned with the significance of light, and he strives to express spirituality. Far from solely exploring the relationship between forms and colours, his non-figurative aesthetics have a deep emotional intensity and speak to the imagination. Indeed, this timeless balance gives his artworks both immense grace and tremendous power.

Although the painter describes his practice as spontaneous, the result involves careful planning, especially the more recent paintings of larger size. Instead of describing them as acrylic on canvas, I would like to evoke the term of mixed-media on canvas. Interlocked blocks constitute the first layers. Then denser layers of colours enrich and enlive the work. While the colours may sometimes be violently opposed, they always work in concert, radiating throughout the work and giving the rhythm and solemnity that triggers a viewer's first impression. The washes that act as a bridge fusing these different elements. The final touches ass texture to the two-dimensional surface, giving the illusion of a thirst dimension. The artist's use of materials such as sand on the surface of the painting, giving it s poetic feel.

Saleem's work has received international acclaim. He had exhibitions not only in Bangladesh and the USA but also in India, Brazil, Japan, Serbia, Italy and more recently in China. He had a solo show in the Bangladesh Embassy in the summer of 2007, which led to one at the Shenyang Palace Museum. He was selected with 10 other American artists to participate to the Beijing Olympics for the Art. A number of his pieces are in museum and government or corporate collections.

Laure Raibaut

New York, July 1, 2008

Film: Audition round of Super Hero Super Heroine to begin Aug 3

Staff Reporter

Selection round of 'Super Hero Super Heroine,' a talent hunt programme for searching newcomer actors and actress, will start on August 3 in six divisional cities of the country.

Audition round will kick off at Hotel Tower Inn in Chittagong on August 3.

This was disclosed at a press conference jointly organised by Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC), NTV and Market Access at Manna Digital Sound Complex of the BFDC yesterday. Sarwar Alam, General Manager of Carrot Communications Ltd, Saniat Hossain, General Manager of Market Access, Tanvir Khan, Senior Producer of NTV, Khorshed Alam, Shah Alam Kiron, Secretary General of Producers' Association, Rezanur Rahman, President of Film Journalists Association, Raihan Mujib, producer, SA Haque Alik, producer, among others, spoke at the conference.

Tanvir Khan said after initial selection, about 120 to 140 persons will be selected for the next round. Minimum educational qualification will be HSC passed. "We will select the newcomers in five categories - looking, physical status, acting quality, expressions and skills," he said.

Event: Nipa’s solo exhibition begins today

Art & Culture Report

A 10-day long solo art exhibition titled 'Mystery of Colour’ of artist Maksuda Iqbal Nipa will be inaugurated at 6:00pm at the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts in the city today.

Spanish Ambassador Arturo Perez Martinez will inaugurate the show, as chief guest, while Prof Abdus Shakoor Shah, Director of the Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University, will be present as special guest on the occasion.

This was disclosed at a press conference at Bengal Shilpalaya in the city yesterday. Artist and cartoonist Shishir Bhattacharya, Director of the gallery Subir Chowdhury, artist Maksuda Iqbal Nipa, Sarwar Jahan of the gallery, among others, were present at the conference.

Artist Nipa was born in 1975 in Dhaka. She completed BFA degree from the Department of Drawing and Paintings of the Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University in 1996 and ME degree in fine arts from Japan in 2004. She had seven solo exhibitions till now and participated in many group shows.

A total of 24 artworks of Nipa will take place in the show. The gallery remains open from 12:00 noon to 8:00pm everyday till August 10.