Canvas awash in rain

Indeed, the 92 watercolour works have given the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts an air of lucid lyricism. The gallery at Dhanmondi is holding its second solo exhibition of watercolour works by artist Kazi Ghiyas. Titled Serenade of Rain, the display was opened jointly by veteran painter Mohammad Kibria and Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Matsushiro Horiguchi on December 4.

Kazi Ghiyas has been living in Japan ever since he went there in 1979 for higher studies in fine arts. Before that he had completed his graduation and master's degrees from Dhaka University and Chittagong University. Although he has been away from the country for quite a long time, the bond with the motherland, its nature and natural beauty has never been severed. And that can be felt in the art works displayed at the Bengal Gallery.

Ghiyas' canvases are replete in abstract images of rain. But this abstraction does not obstruct the viewers' perception of the artist's feeling. The canvases, wearing layers of 'washes' of transparent colours, rather compose different expressions that are incarnate in the symbol of rain. Ghiyas' spontaneous soft brush-strokes give expression to his feelings and moods, and through this he seems to submerge himself in the depths of water. Thus he discovers the sounds of rain, its colours, rhythm and poetry.

Not only that, Ghiyas captures the diverse possibilities in this natural phenomenon by juxtaposing rain against different settings like in the different parts of a day and different seasons. This provides his paintings a unique quality of depth.

Ghiyas' images of rain are found in his use of deep dots while they are emphasised by the background of soft subdued colours. His images cannot be explained; they have to be felt. For, every single line and dot, the fading trail of colours on Ghiyas' canvas exudes different moods and feelings.

The exhibition will remain open for all everyday from 12 to 8 pm until December 12.