Six decades of contemporary art in Bangladesh / Chapter 5 of all 6 chapters

Takir Hossain

^{Kamruzzaman Sagar}

Dulal Chandrow Gain (1972-) has been greatly influenced by Cave Painting. The recurrent subjects of his paintings are large wild animals, such as bison, aurochs, deer, horse and varied etched animal forms as well as traces of human hands, amorphous forms, patterns of traditional dolls etc. His paintings feature a mingling of yellow, white and black hues. Drawings of humans are rare in his paintings and are usually schematic as opposed to the more detailed and naturalistic images of animal forms. He upholds a balance between the beastly form and his setting -- a balance that explains a sense of desperation.

Nagarbasi Barman (1973-) seems obsessed with fish, fishing net, riverine life and their relationship with humans and bucolic nature. Sometimes his works highlight his native village and varied aspects. The most significant aspect is that his prints are not exclusively related to urban life. Most of his works overwhelmingly focus on fish, boats, hooks or fishing nets.

Anukul Majumdar's (1974) works delve deep into motherhood, childhood and pure rustic ambiances. His figures are replete with substance. His strokes are very rough, with lots of curves and twisted lines. His works give us a deep essence of the meaning of life, affection and quintessence. Anukul hails from a very remote area of Barisal. He evokes his childhood and juvenile days. Swimming, fishing, roaming around the village were regular activities during the days. After leaving the village, the city seemed to him very pale and inanimate. Afterwards, these topics came to his paintings significantly and dramatically.

Biplob Kumar Das (1974-) initial mode of expression was purely realistic and the painter went into the details of his subjects. The quiet and serene location tremendously influenced him and he painted tranquil nature, the splendour of the river. Afterwards, he started to engross himself with form, composition and textural intensity—which could be regarded as abstract expressionism. Since then colour remains a predominant aspect of his paintings.

Arifur Rahman (1974-) has been greatly influenced by Pop Art--- an art movement that emerged in the 1950s and flourished in the 1960s in America and Britain, drawing inspiration from sources in popular and commercial culture. His paintings’ recurrent features are blossoming flowers, flower vases, open books on table, apples, violins, nude and semi nude figures, wine bottles and glasses, tea pots and cups, breastfeeding women, longing lying women, greenery gardens and more. He also portrays pub scenes where people’s activities have been focused.

Rezowan Pilow (1974-) has a passion for demonstrating the panoramic view, women busy with their daily chores, the magnificence of nature, birds chirping and flying over the women, lonely women and more. His works also demonstrate contemporary life and times as well. The artist uses space to gradually interact more with figures. His female figures are always the most dominant aspect of his canvas. He not only portrays images, but also pours into them human emotions and animated expressions.

Asma Akber’s (1975-) umbilical cord with art has seemingly been intact since her childhood. She is simultaneously a non-objective, non-figurative and naturist painter. Asma’s themes and approaches are closely connected to physiological experiments. She has also added illusion and emotion to her paintings. Her use of colours is thick, expressive and nostalgic. Her paintings are splendid in terms of her personal techniques and in creating the effects of shade and essence of nature. She mainly gets inspiration from the power of imagination which she has nurtured in her soul over a large span of periods. She truly feels life, eternal truths of time and reminiscence of her childhood days. She gets the exact meaning of life from experiences and observations.

Maksuda Iqbal Nipa (1975-) has taken her colours from nature and that is why colour is the most significant aspect in her works. She likes to experiment with colour in all its various facets. She applies colour directly, piling up thick layers on the canvas. The layers provide a distinctive touch to Nipa’s work and that is why her canvas carries an individual trademark. She has concentrated on applying colours. Deep layers of colours provide a unique texture to her canvas and that is why her canvas carries a singular hallmark. Her paintings create an expression on the essence of a colour and what the colours really means. Over the years, Nipa has developed this technique, which is very expensive and time consuming, requiring immense effort and devotion. Her search for beauty and for contemplation on nature has influenced her to hold up in her paintings a vibrant blithe picture of nature. 

Ashraful Hasan (1977-) is one of the painters who is cerebrally sound and his paintings force us to ponder on someting novel and refreshing. His , acrylic, charcoal and pastel based works feature superb detailing with powerful drawings and hint at his strong sense for articulating and compositioning semi-figurative expressions. He has employed his highly refined insights on handling craft and skill in representing images that are often of deforestation and inhumane aspects of mankind. He likes to go to the details of his subjects and chooses to construct his language dwelling mostly on the significant details of the surface of the things denoted.

Kamruzzaman Sagar’s (1977) works delve deep into complexity of human life and he has made a great attempt to blend surrealistic metaphors in his prints. All of his single prints can be divided into several segments and each section denotes a story which is dissimilar to other. His prints explore different avenues of humankind. Aves and human motions are very recurrent features in his prints. His figures look emotive and poignant, while the painter remains concerned with the connection between human isolation and logical explanation. He has also added illusions and emotions to his works.

… To Chapter 6

About the Writer
Takir Hossain is an art critic and cultural curator. He has been writing on contemporary Bangladeshi art and culture for a long time. His keen interests are on art and literature. As an art critic, his criticisms have been incorporated in many reputed artists’ books, brochures, national and international art journals as well as many other varied forms of creative publication. On many occasions, the critic has presented keynote papers for national and international seminars. He has also graced the position of a jury member in a number of art competitions and carnivals. In his vibrant career he has covered several international exhibitions held in different countries across Europe and Asia.
The writer can be reached at takir75@gmail.com