Modern and moving

An work by MF Hussain

Maqsudul Ahsan, the curator of the exhibition says, "Art has no limitation. The exchange of works of artists can take place any time with success. The language of visual art is easily accessible. An earlier exhibition by 'Bandhan' was in 2004 and included works of Bangladeshi and Indian artists. In this display there are artworks ranging from that of well-known artists to more recent ones. We hope to arrange an exhibition of Bangladeshi paintings in Delhi." The exhibition includes works of MF Hussain, Jogen Chowdhury, Sanat Kar, Niren Sen and others.

A major attraction of the exhibit is MF Hussain's "Madhuri" series. In one of the paintings the viewer sees popular Indian actress Madhuri Dixit's face as a collage, with her dressed up in a dancing costume, surrounded by images such as a horse, a crow and a hand holding up a tiny flame. In 1996 there had been an exhibit of the "Madhuri" series in "Art Today", in Delhi. Different facets of Madhuri have been presented in the series.

In Amitabh Bhowmic's "Woman and lizard", mixed media, contrasts beauty with unpleasantness. There are details of the woman done in pen, ink and colour. Portrayal of traditional clothes, jewellery and hairstyle has been included. Avijit Roy's "The bull", charcoal on paper, is a part of a series and shows an angry bull, pounding the earth restlessly. Asim Pal's "Traditional touch", an etching in red, yellow and green brings in a meditating Buddhist priest, sitting on a lotus. Biswajit Mandal's "Untitled', an etching, brings in a tribal warrior, surrounded by lotus.

Chandan Das' "Blossom", wood engraving, is something modern and moving. Dattatraya Apte's untitled silkscreen highlights two birds. Hema Guha in "No identity", a wood carving, depicts rows of men with guns, helmets and flowing robes. This is done in black, gray and white. Jayant Gajera brings in abstract forms in his etching. Jogen Chowdhury's "Creepers and flowers", serigraph, in black and white, is interesting. KR Subbanna's "Untitled" in lithograph is based on erotic drawings.

Manikanta Chowdhury's "Betrayal", an etching-aquatint, brings in a human figure with horns and wings, with the chest being pierced by two arrows. Niren Sen's "Moksha-5" has a profile with a hand offering a flower bud. This is in blue, pink and brown. Rajen Fuleri's etching introduces a portrait with texture work around it. Rajib Roy's "Coming soon in India", in litho, works on texture. Rama Krishna Vedala's "Sankranti" portrays the festival of kites. Tiny kites are depicted on the background of a large vermilion kite.

Salil Sahani's mixed print brings in a resting nude female figure, done in splashes of raw colours; a large masked monster is seen approaching to ravish her. Sanat Kar's cardboard intaglio shows two portraits blended together, with four hands and a flower. The gray figure is done against an olive green backdrop.

Apart from the paintings mentioned above there are many more remarkable pieces.

The group exhibition is meant to be a bridge of harmony and understanding between people in Bangladesh and India. The exhibit will be on till July 28.