Solo exhibition ‘Temperament of Time’ concludes

Noted artist Syed Golam Dastagir's first solo exhibition "Temperament of Time" came to a close yesterday at Gallery Shilpangan. The event was inaugurated on 22nd October by eminent educationist Dr Syed Manzoorul Islam. 

Renowned artists Hamiduzzaman Khan and Javed Jalil alongside Dr Rashid Amin, Professor of Fine Arts, Department of Fine Arts, Jagannath University, were also present at the event. They all reviewed the paintings at the exhibition.

The exhibition highlighted 63 paintings that artist Syed Golam Dastagir created in two decades, from 1991 to 2010. The exhibition displayed seven different art series embodying and narrating different themes. A talk with Syed Golam Dastagir, highlighting his solo show, will be held today at 6 pm in Gallery Shilpangan. 

Syed Golam Dastagir grew up hearing stories of SM Sultan. He used to visit and practice painting at his house. He views and experiences everything in his surroundings from a unique artistic lens.

Using his intelligence, the artist conveys identity and emulates various human emotions and situations through his work.

Regarding his  different artworks, Syed Golam Dastagir shared his opinion. "I completed the 'Post Artificial Intelligence Era' series back in 1992," says the artist. "It represents my concerns and imagination of where technology could lead us at that time."

"The work of  visual anthropology is to express how we interpret what we see," pointed out Syed Golam Dastagir.  

"Dealing with Classic Visual Anthropology of Women' portrays the contemporary social stigmas of how the female counterpart is usually shown," says the artist. "The absence of the head or distorted figures represent these social issues."

"In the 'Swimming in the Urban Tub' series, I tried to emulate the situation and mechanical lifestyle of the urban cities," shares Syed Golam Dastagir. "To me, urban life seems to hold a constant rush, like swimming. Distancing us from the beauty of nature and sinking to the spiral of mechanical urbanity." 

"I compared this urbanistic feeling with the suffocating feeling of swimming in a tub and tried to express it in this series alongside other elements," adds the artist.

The repercussions of time, be it beauty, or ugliness, through the fantastical gestures, mythical emulations, the artworks seem to reflect upon the mundane life of humanity.  

 "Temperament of Time" could be an interpretation of what Syed Golam Dastagir has observed from childhood to the present day. The day-to-day experience of joy, sadness, anger, curiosity and a myriad collection of experiences are harmoniously represented in his artworks.