Mohammad Iqbal’s solo exhibition in Japan

Renowned artist Mohammad Iqbal’s 44th solo exhibition is underway at Gallery APA, Nagoya, Japan. The show was inaugurated on August 24, and will run till September 1. Eminent actor, elocutionist and cultural personality Asaduzzaman Noor, MP, attended the inaugural ceremony of the exhibition as an honourable guest.

Dr Mohammad Iqbal, an Associate Professor at the Department of Drawing and Painting, Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka, is a contemporary painter. His canvases feature various enigmatic and shadowy faces. The backgrounds of most of his compositions contain abstract forms, soothing colours and mellow tones and textures.

For the ongoing show, the artist is exhibiting around 28 oil paintings, representing feminine visages along with portrayals of the skies and hills. Shattered dreams, desires, and the deprivation of children, especially girls, are recurrent themes in some of his works. The eyes of the children, portrayed by Iqbal, speak of their suffering and the society’s maltreatments and unjust attitudes towards them.

According to the artist, children are the worst victims of wars. In his paintings, he brings out children’s emotional eyes, that express the longing for better days to come. “I haven’t always maintained one particular method, style, or technique. I like to articulate the process of thinking, and then incorporate emotions and personal experiences in my works,” he explains. During the exhibition, he attracted the audience by doing live paintings.

Iqbal’s oil paintings are famous for featuring eight to ten layers of colours. He puts them on empty spaces of the canvas to denote the imaginary icon of the non-visual agents that cause environmental pollution.

Iqbal is a MONBUSHO Scholar. He has a PhD in Oil Painting from the Tokyo National University of the Arts and Music, Japan. His paintings have been exhibited in many renowned galleries of Japan and Bangladesh. In 1993, he was a post-graduate student at the Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka. That year, he participated in the Osaka International Triennial and won a prestigious award. He received a scholarship in Japan during his visit. 

 “Japanese art is known for its soft colours, minimal expressions and meticulous lines and forms. The country’s serene environment has hugely influenced many painters’ works over centuries,” said Iqbal. “Japanese painters’ works are frequently done in subtle tones and carefully chosen textures. They always search for perfection. Their works are more technique-based and demonstrate a sense of artistry.”