‘Synthetic Reality’: Javed Jalil's artistic inquiry into mind's mechanism
What defines a thought? Is it a solitary idea or several notions intertwined within themselves? Can a thought exist in isolation? Perhaps, thoughts are hardly innate, rather they are perceived uniquely in a continuous chaotic dialogue within the mind.
Javed Jalil's second solo exhibition, "Synthetic Reality" provokes one to engage in an existential crisis with the reality of thoughts. With a series of 27 paintings produced using oil and dry media on canvas, the exhibition is the first part labeled as "The RED".
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Lit up in a warm and soft hue of red, a journey through the gallery hall is a stimulating experience. In the same palette of red, white, and grey with accents of yellow and black, every piece of art unravels an eventful arena accompanied by short titles to give the viewer a headway to their train of thought.
Upon entering the gallery, one would be greeted with "Observer being Observed", then "Movement of Thought" followed by "Lonely Question", "Touch of a Dragonfly", "Unknown Acquaintance", and more, in the journey through paintings. The exhibition revolves around the idea that thought is not natural, it is inherently artificial - hence the label "synthetic" in the title.
Yesterday (July 12), a warm inauguration ceremony was held at Kalakendra with tea and snacks. The special guests included Mubin S Khan, deputy editor of The Business Standard, and Sohel Rahman, an I/O psychologist and managing director of Asian Tiger Capital Holdings. Javed Jalil, a regular of Kalakendra's artistic ventures, was responsible for every detail of the exhibition, from selecting the pieces to arranging the lighting and placement. This is one exhibition where the artist took care of everything without a curator.
Mubin S Khan described the exhibition as the centerpiece of Javed Jalil's imagination where the pieces expose his mind without the need for elaboration. Sohel Rahman shared how he was pleasantly surprised by the techniques and composition of the showcased works. He said, "The technique is just extraordinary; I have never before seen oil paintings presented in such a way that they look like charcoal, pastels, and pencil drawings. Additionally, Javed has delivered perfection in the deliberate distortion of the paintings."
The distortion is an evident trait in the paintings of "Synthetic Reality". Each piece features multiple elements clashing in crosshatches. Featuring animal figures, and exaggerated versions of human features and profiles, the art pieces give thoughts a larger-than-life space to stand out in bold lines, timid textures, and fluid shapes.
The artist said, "If you view something under a microscope, something mundane may suddenly seem monstrous to us yet nothing in it has changed except the view. My work is a projection of how we choose to define the monstrosity."
From "Mating of a Pen" to "Barb Wire Driving", the exhibits diversely vary in their foci. Complementing the paintings is a video installation featuring an amalgamation of various events in motion, reflecting the simultaneity of thinking. While the artworks are different in their concepts, altogether they are an artistic inquiry into understanding the way the human mind works. Javed compares it with the act of driving — the act is quite fast, and one has to keep note of a lot of things at the same time. Thereby, a thought is hardly a singular entity but a cumulation of several thoughts in the sense that we cannot really separate one piece of thought from another in the collective experience during thinking.
Reflecting on the exhibition, Javed told The Daily Star, "The exhibition seamlessly integrates into my daily existence. It provides a stage for my artistry while I stay immersed in the next phase. I envision 'Synthetic Reality' as an ongoing exploration, with 'The RED' marking just its initial chapter."
The exhibition is set to run from July 12 to 27 at Kalakendra, Lalmatia from 4pm to 8pm every day.
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