Exhibition
Stark lines that tell a romantic tale
Fayza Haq
To celebrate the 35th anniversary of Russian-Bangladesh friendship, an exhibition of paintings by Kamrul Islam Nadim is being held at the Russian Cultural Centre. Yury Makarov, the first secretary and head of the Russian Cultural Centre, said that Nadim's paintings were simple and sincere, and that he had presented local landscapes and experi-mental figure compositions with the bright hues of Bangladesh. He added that Nadim's works included oil, acrylic and mixed-media on canvas and paper.Hamiduzzaman Khan said, "He has an innovative way of his own and expresses his personality well in his lines and colours, in his paintings of his trees and his sketches of dancers. The oils too have some deep, spiritual, inbuilt compositions. His individuality should be praised. Apart from that, he is known for his modern western dance lessons. I have great expectations in him." Ranjit Das added, "The forms and colours of his landscape appeal to me." In his Figure Study- 1and 2, done in mixed-media, with rhythm as its theme, he presented female forms, resting between dances. The torsos, limbs and skimpy clothes are done in flat colours and sketches with purple, brown, red and gold. The backdrop of dark swirls of earthy colours complete one composition. The other sketch has the poised women sitting and standing, with pink and black outlines for figures where the faces have been left to the imagination to work upon. Festival, done in acrylic on canvas in an Impressionistic way, has figures with swirling lungis and shirts, with dhols and draping buntings to usher in a festive mood. Nadim's nature oriented works bring in tree trunks, branches and swirls of earth and grass covered spaces with a dream-like effect where the vibrant images are simplified in geometrical forms. Despite the stark lines, there is an element of romanticism in his works. In his works the artist expresses his personal experiences as a teacher of dance and a student of the Fine Arts Department, Dhaka University.
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Viewers at the exhibition. PHOTO: STAR |