Innovative and intense

Illusive Image Mixed Media

Rejaul Karim, speaking about why he had turned to abstract expressionism, said, "I did realistic work till 1982, having done that since my childhood. Now my penchant is to work with black and brown, which tend to blend into one another. We play with space: if we consider the space outside the universe it is bound to be black as there is a lot of space that sunrays do not reach. I've used the variations of brown to represent the earth, along with space. I can't explain my work as they represent my emotions and feelings. The paintings should speak for themselves."

Rejaul, who graduated for the Arts College in 1968 with Mahmudul Haque and Abul Barq Alvi, had gone into set designing for TV being inspired by Mustafa Manwar. Imdad Hussain was his other guide and he has worked in TV for 34 years. He always kept on painting along with his other means of earning an income, and learnt about animation drawing while on his job in Malaysia. Returning in 1982, he plunged into experimental work, working with hand-made paper and papier-mache to get the relief effect.

Four rectangles of paper presented one of his enigmatic works. This was replete with triangles, rectangles, semi-circles, and soft falling and dripping washes of orange and brown offsetting the earthy colours. In the accompanying water-colour piece was a buoyant creation in grays and yellow ochre with detailed work of vibrant blue and green. In Rejaul's collection was also an oil painting , "Spring", where the artist had mingled tangerine with cobalt blue along with the play of jet-black to bring in disjointed figures and abstract forms. The impact was that of a forest aflame with gem-like tropical flowers. The next piece brought in a voluptuous female figure and it was entitled "Rhythm in spring". A vermilion-throated bird with scarlet beak was brought to the right. All the paintings reflected an intense involvement with life.

Although Rejaul had worked with various mediums, including mixed-media, it was water-colour that he preferred as he could best bring out his feelings in the sensitive strokes that registered within minutes. Also, he believed that as it was our traditional media, we should try our best to promote and preserve it. Mohammed Kibria and Monirul Islam from Spain remain his constant inspiration. Karim has also dabbled with poetry, bringing out a collection of poems called "Rodera more jai" some years back.

Alokesh Ghosh had included a number of realistic and semi-realistic work in his water colours. He had brought in a line of dark, horn-swaying buffaloes in one of his works in shades of black, blue and brown, which blended with the gold and orange dry mass of grass in the forefront. Gathering clouds and some quickly delineated figures had been included in the composition too. In a landscape, masses of purple, brown and gray brought in the clouds with vertical, bold strokes to bring in the reflection of the trees in a pool of water in front. There Alokesh had experimented with texture as in many of his paintings in the exhibition.

In the same manner he had brought in sweeps of blue and gray, blending and merging colours, to denote clouds that nearly mixed with the horizontal strokes at the bottom, that represented wild waves of water. "Rangamati" was yet another collection of copper splashes that had merged with the transparent and luminous blue to bring in the freshness of the Hill Tracts. The exhibition also included some fine portraits, such as that of Tagore and some tribal people. Alokesh is known for his remarkable portraiture along with being a fine landscape artist. His friends call him a "modernist realist painter."

Nazib Mohammed, who was the youngest in the group, was the most daring and experimental. He had brought in local themes, patterns and colours with a joie de vivre that spoke of objectivity and complete command over the medium. Nazib, educated partially at Japan, had held a show at Yokohama, entitled "Bengal Symphony" in 1991, which had been mostly in oil and projected his longings for his home. The geometrical shapes in his present "Bengal Symphony" appeared to be aerial views of farmland -- bright with its ripening crops. When seen closely one could detect shapes of flowers, trees and birds in the semi-abstract shapes and broken outlines.

Although different in approach, the three artist showed a common base of being eager to experiment with "form, colour and space". The exhibition reflected the "growth and maturity" of the painters.