Portraying peace as protest to war
Narrative art is a genre of art that tells a complete story, either as a moment in an ongoing story or as a sequence of events unfolding over time. Renowned artist Mohammad Iqbal's socio-political consciousness coupled with his thoughts on environmental issues is lucid and coherent. His art reflects his concerns about the turmoil of world politics and war that of which children are the most-affected victim. In recent years, Iqbal's favourite subject has become children that he regards neglected and mistreated. Their emotional eyes create the Golden Sections of his paintings that express surprise, pain, puzzlement, panic and longing for the good days to come.
The artist's 42nd solo exhibition, titled “Silent Revelations”, opens today at 6pm at the Courtyard, Edge Gallery, Dhanmondi. The exhibition will feature around 50 recent works by the artist. Organised by Edge the Foundation, “Silent Revelations” will be simultaneously exhibited at both Edge Galleries -- Gulshan and The Courtyard at Park Heights, Dhanmondi. Both galleries remain open every day from 10am to 8pm, exhibiting from April 22 till May 5.
According to Iqbal, children are the worst victims of war. They are vulnerable to the endangered environmental issues created by the greedy manufacturers.
“I saw a dead child's innocent face gleaming through a destructed building of Gaza in a newspaper. Children are not safe in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq or any war-torn area of the world. I don't want to uphold the destruction and death of war; rather as protest to the war, I depict the innocent faces of the children. Their emotional gazes seek for peace. As an artist, I want a peaceful world where any dispute can be resolved peacefully,” said Mohammad Iqbal.
The artist follows a scientific method called gesso to prepare his canvases. He coats his canvas, mingling Arabic gum, water and linseed oil in equal proportion to prevent fungus.
Mohammad Iqbal's oil paintings have become a hallmark of his own, featuring eight to ten layers of colours. Dots are the signature style of the artist, who puts them on empty space of the canvas to denote the imaginary icon of the non-visual agents that cause environmental pollution. “I complete every painting with a lot of time embellishing each portion of the painting with dots and thin lines. I use pointed needles and thin brushes to do the job, which is time-consuming and requires utmost patience. Every dot and line meaningfully appears in my canvas,” explains the artist.
Iqbal also has a great reverence for the Bauls, a group of mystic minstrels of the country. Many of his characters on canvas are usually saints, spiritualists, exploited people and mystic bards. Iqbal emerged in the country's art scene in the 1990s essentially with this potent philosophical theme. At his current exhibition, Iqbal focuses on a number of themes. He gives us a novel look into every one of his solo exhibitions held in different periods of time.
Mohammad Iqbal is a prominent contemporary artist based in Dhaka and Tokyo. He is an Associate Professor at the Department of Drawing and Painting, Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka. He has held many exhibitions and received numerous awards from both home and abroad, such as Atish Dipankar Gold Medal in Fine Arts (2015), Nomura Grand Award (2010), Aoki Shigeru Grand Prize (2005), City Mayor Award (2005) and National and Young Artists Award by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
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