A cornucopia of artistic expressions
Entering into the Zainul Gallery-1, Faculty of Fine Art (FFA), University of Dhaka (DU), art lovers will be amazed at wonderful oriental-style paintings by the 51 Indian and Bangladeshi Master and contemporary artists. The 7th Oriental Painting Exhibition, open from 11m to 8pm daily, will conclude on October 14.
The exhibition is showcasing diverse-themed oriental paintings like nature and landscape, figurative, folk-inspired, mythical, Tantric, religious, classics and contemporary artworks by 26 master and promising Indian artists along with artworks by 25 renowned and emerging Bangladeshi artists.
The artworks bear the reflection of a new lease on life. They are evocative of use of subtle and sensitive colour. A game of light and shades, unparallel compositions, blend of classicism and modernity, varied sizes of paintings and their two-dimensional and three-dimensional presentations have attributed a unique quality to the display rarely been held here.
Art connoisseurs will find artworks by Indian master painters like Benode Behari Mukherjee, Biren De, Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury, Gopal Ghose, Indra Dugar, Kshitindranath Majumdar, Maniklal Banerjee, Mrinal Kanti Das, Nikhil Biswas, Sudhir Khastgir at the gallery. The hilly landscape of Biren De is a masterpiece at the gallery.
Among the displayed works by the noted and contemporary Indian artists, Nandadulal Mukherjee and Ramananda Bandyopadhyay works are evocative of master compositions. Swapan Das' five works are on display. The celebration of life and love has been portrayed in one of his works “Omar Khayyam”. The wash applied on the kent paper is awe inspiring. The selection of colours like yellow, brown, purple, red and a fantastic highlight created through keeping the paper white has embellished the painting in a rather poetic way. The eyes of the enamoured figures of the painting are lively and appealing. His other works like “Woman with a Cow” signifies motherly affection; “Owl” depicts the poetic imagery of Jibanananda Das, “Lady and Horse” epitomises the emblem of a masculine identity and a meditative “The Lord Buddha”. Rina Roy's five artworks are suggestive of fine wash technique on kent paper, bright colours, aesthetic figurative compositions and a close affinity with nature and animals like deer, duck, and lotus. Anuradha Gayen's artwork “Santal Woman” paints the birds in the natural ambience of morning glow.
Artworks by Ananaya Roy Chowdhury, Apurba Sengupta, Arghya Diptakar, Benoy Dalui, Enakshi Das, Mintu Naiya, Parag Halder, Soma Mukherjee, Sukanta Saha, Susmita Saha and Tanmoy Dasgupta are also being showcased at the event.
Among Bangladeshi artists' works, Shawkatuzzaman's painting is stroke-based. Professor Abdus Satter's outstandingly soft work is a depiction of Korean fish. The work is a masterpiece at the gallery. Tajul Islam and Rofique Ahmed have portrayed folk themed works. Malay Bala has beautifully composed lively figures of Shakuntala and friends with a close affinity with nature. Young artist Eite Rajbongshi has superbly depicted an apple with snakes symbolizing the horrific use of formalin in fruits.
The other participating Bangladeshi artists are Sushanta Kumar Adhikary, Zahid Mustafa, Jean Nesar Osman, Kantideb Adhikary, Zahangir Alom, Amit Nandi, Bikash Ananda Setu, Fahmida Haque Mahi, Hasura Akther Rumky, Horendranath Roy, Kazi Nowrin Misha, Lakshman Kumar Sutradhar, Nargish Parvien, Nipa Rani Sarkar, Nondita Sutar, Samina Zaman, Shankar Majumder, Suman Kumar Sarkar and Sanjida Akter.
The artworks, displayed at the exhibition, are reflective of oriental sense and thoughts with regard to their media, techniques and subjects. As a serious art movement, Oriental Painting Study Group (OPSG) in association with The Daily Star has organised the 7th Oriental Painting Exhibition 2017. Professor Md. Akhtaruzzaman, Vice Chancellor of DU, inaugurated the exhibition as chief guest. Eminent artist Rafiqun Nabi, noted poet Nirmalendu Goon, renowned sculptor Ferdousi Priyabhashini, Professor Nisar Hossain, Dean, FFA, DU and noted Indian artist Swapan Das attended the opening ceremony as special guests. Dr. Malay Bala, curator of OPSG, delivered welcome address at the event.
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