Mind boggling miniatures

Deesha Dey Water Colour

In one of Chandra Shekhar Dey's works one sees a woman done in pink, blue and gray. She is seen carrying a vessel and to her right are motifs of leaves, flowers and portions of plants done in gray and black. A fish is brought to the left of the human figure. Motifs on the sari and the suggested jewellery are also minutely done. The sky in the background is yellow, green and ink blue. Abdus Shakoor's sketch brings in a woman with red as the backdrop. Her full lips match with her "teep". The jewellery on her neck is also neatly put in with deft strokes. A bird, an elephant and two other portraits are included in the display in separate frames. These are done in shades of pink, red and black.

One of Qayyum Chowdhury's paintings brought in trees, birds and other elements of landscapes in geometrical forms in shades of green, yellow, patches of white and brown. There are motifs within motifs. In Samarjit Roy Choudhury's works, one sees kissing birds done in shades of black on a background of sunbursts and leaves. Included are also rows of buntings and flowers. Hamiduzzaman Khan's paintings present sculpted forms, one being red and brown with exaggerated and simplified depiction of a face, done in beige, burnt sienna and blackish red.

Naima Haq's bird belongs to the romantic imagination indeed. The cage is suggested by curling gold motifs all over it and beyond it are rectangles and triangles in shades of blue, gray and white. Tiny dots of gold are scattered over it and nearby is suggested the interior of a bedroom. In another of her work is a tribal woman in blouse and "lungi" along with heavy silver jewellery. Dots squares and little lines complete the painting in mauve. One of Sheikh Afzal's works uses black mixed with other colours brining in the plants, boats and land to be seen in a Sunderban landscape. It's in mauve, black, gray and beige. His other work brings in Banderban with blue shades to bring in steps and dwellings on the mountains. Trees, houses, grass and people are included in the composition. It is gray and green with touches of pink. Another painting of landscape in indigo blue and beige. Abu Sayeed Talukdar's ceramics bring in crystalline glaze of the tiger's eye is a repetition of colours in green, blue and brown. The second brings in a fish form where gills, fins and eyes can be distinguished. It is green, beige, pink and black. The other is a geometrical form in gray and blue. Talukdar says, "It was the heat control that was most difficult for me to handle in my work".

Alokesh Ghosh says, "I wish I could have brought in more details like pigeons in my work." One has boats, land, water and boats. The water is in blue and gray while the boats are blackish, the poles of the boats are brown while the strips of land between the water is in purple and blue and beyond is the sky. Another of his paintings bring in rickshaws in shades of gray, red, blue and beige, with the sky at the back in streaks of blue and red, while the paper is left blank to show the dirt roads in front. Scenes of narrow lanes of Old Dhaka and Panamnagar have been brought in the other two works.

Syed Hassan Mahmud has brought abstracts in his works. In one there are shades of gray with red, blue and yellow at the side, with the gray portion containing abstract motifs in beige, brown and blue. The other one has a pink slab with abstract motifs once more in geometrical forms and it has a brown bar at the side. Another is a gray creation with texture work on it. "It was when Gallery Tone had held its miniature exhibition that we were first interested in creating miniatures and once again we've found such a platform", says Mahmud. Razzak Prodhan Liton has brought in the beauty of nature as found in Bangladesh in his work. In one is seen a boat plied by man all of which is in brown, beige and blue. In the background are bushes in beige and cream and beyond is the sky in dull cream while the water in front has texture work in black. In another of Prodhan's painting you see two boats besides bushes and beyond are shades of brown and beige to bring in the grass and trees while streaks of white form the forefront.

Akhteruzzaman Shamol brings in fish in a gray backdrop and beyond this are circles of yellow, blue and white. In the painting is also a pool with bobbing orange fishes. Another of Shamol's creations is a fish bone in a circle of black within which there are more circles of gray with yellow swimming fish. The motifs remain minute and simplified. Shaheen Akhter Lipi says, "In my work I create a world of my own with a perspective in which you can see the picture from different angles. The figures also have forms that are my own and are not altogether realistic." In one of Shaheen's paintings is a veil draped woman with a light at the side showing her the way. There are many paths and parallel forms depicting many paths that the individual could have taken. She has used black, gray and brown. Rezaul Islam Lovelu says, "I do basically wood carvings and in my paintings I have brought in details of birds, animals, flowers and leaves all curled up together in shades of brown, gray, blue and yellow and they are outlined.

In the exhibition are 156 works by 56 artists ranging from ones by Qayyum Chowdhury, Hamizumman Khan and Chandra Shekhar Dey to painters recently graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts DU.