Beckoning the vicissitudes of time

Tayeba Begum Lipi is a versatile visual artist who continually uses diverse media like painting, drawing, video, constructed objects and installations. The ongoing solo exhibition “No One Home” at Bengal Art Lounge, showcasing installations, drawings and videos by Lipi, is a remarkably coherent exhibition in which the artist continues to explore the themes that have long haunted her -- the nature of womanhood, the place of women in society, the ephemeral nature of life -- in a characteristically candid endeavor.

The artist is renowned for her sharp observations of things around her, and rendition of those into distinctive art pieces. In the video “I wed myself” (2010) for example, Lipi played both the role of the bride and the groom on a wedding-stage, therefore questioning the construction of gender and the precise roles it assigns to individuals. The various objects like bras, blouses, shoes and hand bags, she makes of stainless steel razor blades refer to femininity while offering a stark contrast with the usual material these articles are made of. Both visually compelling and thought-provoking, these artworks raise questions of the representation of women and the place they have in society.

Social activist Khushi Kabir and Dr. Thomas Prinz, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, jointly inaugurated the exhibition on December 5 that will continue till January 9.

“No One Home” presents a series of objects of women's daily life like safety pins, stainless steel razor blades, heeled shoes, hand bags, a sewing machine and a bathtub. These personal objects create a feeling of hollow intimacy for their owner is nowhere to be seen. The viewer is left with the strange impression of peering through an empty apartment: the lights are on, but there is no one home.

The exhibition also showcases series of pencil drawings representing skin and hairs under various forms. Alluding to the aging process and its physical consequences on the body, these poignant works deal with womanhood, transition and ultimately with mortality. The vicissitudes of time are further explored in a 2-channel video in which the artist is seen cleaning up her ancestors' graveyard on the family property. This work delves on the tension between what is and what was, inviting the public to introspection.

Tayeba Begum Lipi's seminal artistic practice has installed her as one of the most recognised Bangladeshi artists. She was the commissioner for the first ever Bangladeshi pavilion at the 2011 “Venezia Biennale dell'Arte”, and her work “Love Bed” was acquired in 2013 by the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum (New York, USA). Tayeba Begum Lipi is currently preparing with her husband and fellow artist Mahbubur Rahman a major retrospective of their works on the theme of “The Artist as Activist” at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum (Michigan, USA).