Commemorating Jasimuddin's birth centennial
Asked to elaborate on his symbols, Shakoor said, "I have presented the ways the poetry has described the girls such as with dark skin but inimitable beauty, the birds have come in standing for freedom, the thatched huts are there with banana trees standing for peace and harmony. The influence of older relatives like uncles and aunts have come in to show strong family bonds that characters like Saju and Rupa enjoyed in their lives and which is there even today in rural existence. The plot of 'Nakshi Kanthar Math' however is a vast canvas that requires at least a year from an artist like myself."
Speaking his treatment of his subjects, Shakoor said, " 'Nakshi Kanthar Math' deals mostly with love affairs. It brings in the setting of a vast area, which I've been unable to bring in. Saju for instance is seen speaking with her father discussing her love and marriage. Again, in 'Sujon Badiar Ghat' there are important characters like Dulali and her friend talking together which I've delineated in a red circle along with leaves and birds. I've used black and blue to bring in the complexion of the bronzed beauties in the villages."
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Touching on how he formulated his particular style, Shakoor said, "For six years now I've been bringing in the impact of folk art in my work. I did work of that type at times before but I did not have it uppermost in my mind that I should reflect Bangladesh, its language and its culture in my work. While working on this particular theme of Jasimuddin's poetry I've had the fear that the work might be illustrative which I didn't want. In order to bring in the quality of painting I've maintained my old style keeping in mind the surface and the composition. As for the lettering it is a part of the poems that the paintings are about. I do not consider it as calligraphy as in that one plays with the shapes of the lettering, and forms designs and motifs with them. The writing, however, is an integral part of the composition of the paintings. Calligraphy, on its own, can be an art by itself."
Continuing about the use of flat colours with the contrasting blues and reds, the delineation of the clothes and jewellery, Shakoor said, "I want the viewer to straight away say that he is viewing a Bangladeshi work when he/she sees my painting. I want to maintain my Asian identity and revel in the flat surfaces. The colours are bright while the heroes and heroines are black or blue or even brown and gray. I've been influenced by the works of Jamini Roy, Quamrul Hassan, Qayyum Chowdhury and Rashid Chowdhury. My teacher in India, K G Subramaniam also painted in this flat surface style. I chose folk art for my work by an incident in my life.
"My painting won a prize in Japan in 1991 when I was dealing with the problems of the third world countries. I had used four entries with motifs taken from the 'shital pati', and out of 22,000 five countries won the prizes.. I was basically influenced by the Bengal School of Art but I did not use any religious overtures. I've tried to present my human figures and the accompanying motifs of birds, fish, animals and flowers in the simplest possible way. There are six canvases and 34 drawings and paintings on paper.
Abdus Shakoor has had ten solo exhibits and has participated in over 25 international and national exhibitions in India, Italy, France, Russia, UK, Japan, Denmark, Czech Republic, Brazil and Bangladesh. He has won nine awards including the Best Prize at the Lalitkala Academy, Gujrat, India in 1977. He is the head of the department of the Crafts, Institute of Fine Arts, DU.