The poetry of abstractions

Music

The Best Award went to "Destination?", an installation by Uttam Kumar Roy. White figures of men accompanied by a glass panel on a stand with a red and white arrow, perhaps standing for a space flight, stood for men progressing into unknown destinies. By this, we gather that the artist feels that we are making material progress without bringing emotional satisfaction. The Honorable Mentions went to Fahmida Akhter Kakoli for her acrylic on canvas "Nightmare-37" and to Shyamal Roy Chowdhury's oil on canvas "Exploitation". In Fahmida's work could be seen the chaos and confusion of modern existence with rape, murder, kidnapping and arson as the highlights of everyday life. Kakoli was not out to please with pretty images but to convey a message of havoc in everyday life. She had used startling greens and blues to shock the viewer into realization. Meanwhile Shyamal's wriggling figures also showed creatures struggling for existence.

Large nails held together two planks of wood standing on more panels of wood in Hasanur Rahman's "Infected terrorism" a dramatic sculpture in wood. "Embryo" in mixed media by Zahed Hossain showed the artist's fixation for the origin of human life. A metal creation was seen in Ashanul Ahsan Khan's "The exertion-2" which brought in a ticket collector handing out of the door of a speeding public vehicle which looks more like a moving metal car. Zarjish Kabir Moni's sculpture in clay "In the human heritage" brought in blue animal and human forms. A depiction in human emotions was Nafis Ahmed's "Sorrow" in wood, which brought in an elongated human face like some African mask. More conventional was Ranget Karmakar's "Music" in fibre glass, which presented a seated woman with a sitar in one hand.

Mahmadur Rahman's "Notice-1", in mixed media, presented human heads seen from different angles along with their hands. Squares of green and gray sometimes framed the heads while the hands were seen in motion. More abstract and puzzling was Biplab Biprodas' "Pray-1" and oil on canvas, which brought in geometrical forms in shades of blue, green and yellow ochre. Mystery enveloped this work in the absence of any further explanation. In sharp contrast was the soothing and simple tapestry work "Balaka" by Meer Siddiquea Banu Hasin which presented a flying heron in white seen against clouds of shades of blue, green and yellow ochre.

If one were to go in for abstracts there was plenty of that in this exhibition. Take for instance, Khurshid Nizami Shushi's "In sight of my balanced-6", an oil on canvas which had reddish brown floating objects seen against a backdrop of cadmium yellow, with scattered bits of blue, white and gray to fix the images and provide a contrast. The collage "Harmony" by Reema Sabiah had bits of pasted paper in different shades of brown, yellow and red. These were in geometrical shapes and had admirable contrasting shades. "Mental anguish", and oil on canvas by Ranjit Kumar Dhar, had sweeps of blue, indigo red and pale brown with some lines of brown and flecks of white and brown. Quaint abstract motifs in crescents and curls were seen in Arifur Rahman Kamal's watercolour, "Good night". Mauves, blues, purple and red went to complete this creation.

Subrata Chowdhury's "Untitled", had a piling of images in blue, gold and red in his oil on canvas. There was the illusion that one looking at images piled up in a room. A water colour "The luminous moon" by Syed Mohammed Sayem, brought in the night sky in shades of ochre and burnt umber, depicting an opalescent drifting moon behind dark, shifting clouds. Abul Khayar's "Untitled" brought splashes set off by black and gray swirls and dots. Bidhan Roy's "Sick time-2", an oil on canvas brought in the emaciated form of a man standing out of the indigo background.

The composition in "A poetry of night", an oil on canvas by Arif Karim Bhuiyan was a subtle creation in specks of blue and red seen on an indigo backdrop, which again was placed on a gray-gold setting. "Second soul", a digital print by Shaiful Jahan Asif, brought in waves of gold and pinkish mauve rectangles. Md. Wahiduzzman's "Experience of mutable time", an oil on canvas, was a neat creation in blue, red and indigo. Meanwhile, Arif Rabbani's untitled oil on canvas brought two faces which were juxtaposed with one another, one being that of a woman in white and the other being that of a man in red and blue.

The exhibition showcased the works of young artists who proved eager and agile in the world of experimentation.