Art

Kaya – Creating an Exalted Niche

Fayza Haq

	Tahera Chowdhury, Untitled 2, acrylic on canvas, 76x91cm, 2011. Image: Courtesy

Gallery Kaya has been known for presenting unforgettable senior artists and promising young ones to showcase the rich artistic treasure of this land. One has witnessed many incredible attempts in solos and combined efforts. This Falgun has brought master painters in “Renewal in Serenity” with art teachers from the Faculty of Fine Art, Dhaka University, from Shishir Bhattacharya to Hamiduzzaman Khan, Rafiqun Nabi and Samarjit Roy Chowdhury and fairly young Nagarbasi Barman, with what the art buff have to offer and the connoisseur to gaze at. The combined effort is due to end at the end of the month. This display is based on an Art Camp outside Bangladesh with 20 members, with the hope that there would be an exchange of ideas and views. Memories and hopes are combined together to express what each artist sees around him, and in future. Each artist wants to put in hope for the future and wipe the element of need, insecurity, and want.

Qayyum Chowduhry has brought in more experiments and abstractions, with his “Untitled -2”. His sober lines in his acrylic creation of white Ferries Wheel bring to mind flowers and fish, in white, green, and gold. His “Acrylic-1” has a wonderful and magnetic maze of colours – ranging from orange to green, yellow and black.

Tarun Ghosh, Untitled 1, acrylic on canvas, 91x91cm, 2011. Image: Courtesy

Samarjit Roy Chowdhury, with his gentle and delicate lines, on yellow and green backdrops -- has a collection of creative lines and swirls—which remind one of trees, leaves, kites, peaceful houses, green and red land masses, cracked, yellow earth, and even a human being, walking in the forefront, undeterred and fearless. His “Untitled-2” and “Untitled-3” fill one with happiness with their buoyant colours green and water-melon red bold and joyous colours of creation. He brings in happy couples, birds, cards and flowers – floating around and creating an image of ecstasy.

The white cows, the perched birds in blue and yellow, the slices of sky, mountain and plain at the back in Rafiqun Nabi's “Untitled-1” bring landscape along with roads and town planning with the red roofs and white, pristine walls.

The vibrant and dramatic skies by Hamiduzzaman Khan– pale gold mixed with dove gray, spill over the riverscape, the midnight blue, majestic, white and lemon yellow bringing in the energy of the waters of Bengal. His other “Untitled Acrylic” on canvas has a human, perched on the hill top, with the scenic beauty of the untouched pale gold sky. These are presented with daring slides of colours and lines— along with the overwhelming hill tops, with yellow-ochre house tops, and white water slides.

	Nagarbasi Barman, Untitled 3, acrylic on canvas, 91x91cm, 2011. Image: Courtesy

Mahmudul Haque's acrylic on canvas bring the green and blue mastery of skies, houses, rivers and shadows in front. His pristine sky is a contrast to the hills and houses below, with the donkey brought in with confident, quick, strokes.

Hope and imagination are seen in Mansur Ul Karim's Acrylic on canvas creations with the massive use of gold, and orange, along with blue lines and dots. This brings the gulping fish, with its gold mouth, blue and stripes of fish. Numerous snakes with blue heads and tails are also included in the images.

The amazing forms and figures of Tarun Ghosh include numerous flowers - the pistils, petals in detail, deities with lotus eyes and wavy tresses. Mankind with head, hands and muscles come with flowers and designs in more minute forms. This has layers of emerald green at the back.

Hands, faces, figures, flowers, leaves and masses of gold and orange at the back are the untitled creations of the painter Ranjit Das. Lines, crosses, and bars of gold and white are included in his creations.

Birds, deities with leaves, fire monster heads with horns and teeth to match, are in Shishir Bhattacharya's numerous canvas creations. These have a backdrop of green, gold and pristine white. More pigeons, humans with wings, cattle seen from the rear are there too. So are bits of hands and heads, fish, mountains, lakes, trees and flowers are not left out.

Samarjit Roy Chowdhury, Untitled 3, acrylic on canvas, 91x91cm, 2011. Images: Courtesy	Qayyum Chowdhury, Untitled 1, acrylic on canvas, 91x91cm, 2011. Images: Courtesy

The hanging heads, drying fish with boats, poles drying fish gathering skies in the backdrops, by Nagarbasi Barman, adds energy, colour, and depiction of Bengal to the gathered collection by maestros. His yellow and orange “Untitled -2” is more innovative, post-modern, and reaching for the skies. The gold, white, orange, flowers and squiggly shapes fill the gallery room with sunshine, hopes and endless mirth.

Image: Courtesy