A mélange of paintings and sculptures
Exhibition features two upcoming artists
Fayza Haq
Abdul Gaffar Babu and Shamira Khanum, young artists from the Institute of Fine Arts (IFA), DU, are currently having an exhibition at Zainul Gallery. Professors Abul Barq Alvi and Hamiduzzman Khan, who attended the inauguration, had words of praise and encouragement for Babu and Shamira's efforts.Babu brought in oil, watercolour, acrylic, mixed media and graphics in his display. In the woodcut media he presented a series of images of owls in black and vermilion, depicting truth and fib. Roman soldiers with sword in hand, riding horses representing the prevalence of warfare throughout the years, are the subjects of a print. The overwhelming whirling image in black against red stands for the moving element of time. In acrylic is a presentation of a city, done in geometric shapes in shades of orange, gold and yellow. There is an electric pole and torn wires to indicate the passage of time. There are six delightful presentations of the full moon in various mediums, ranging from watercolour to acrylic. These contain the pristine white moon and lit up sky, seen through dark hedges and branches of trees. The sky is a bewildering swirl of blue and white. Paintings of boats afloat on the river bring in harmony and tranquillity. The grey in the work is touched up with maroon. A lot of the space has been left empty. The lonely bird, in watercolour reflects the artist's own life as he is from Old Dhaka. A pigeon sits on a windowsill, and gazes at the city with its numerous houses. Another delightful painting of birds sitting on walls and electric poles, recalls the cityscapes of more senior artists. More views of old Dhaka, with their narrow lanes, shutters, walls, windows and passers-by are brought in two other paintings. Bold dark strokes in the works complete the composition. Babu says that he has been inspired by his teachers Anisuzzman, Rokeya Sultana, Abul Barq Alvi and Shishir Bhattayacharya. Shamira says that she has gone in for sculpture, as it is a field where few women venture in. She says that she enjoys doing something three-dimensional and realistic from mediums like clay, wax, wood, metal and cement. "I enjoy the metal casting as it is long lasting. The cement casting carries more risk and is more difficult to handle. I've done all the work in the department itself using the facilities provided here," says Shamira. In The couple, done in clay and painted over, brings in a couple who face away from each other and imply disagreement. A cement piece presents a woman sitting pensively. A wood creation also has a seated women, lost in thoughts. Some of the pieces are done with sand-casting. One composition has nine tiny figures seated in different positions. Different from the rest is a modern composition with circles, on the mother and child theme. "Most of my work reflect women," Shamira says, "I deal with women as I want to bring to light their surroundings and their problems." In another part of the exhibition which is called "Art, Craft and Lifestyle", were clothes, bags, costume jewellery and other accessories done by the two artists.
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A collage of works done by the duo |