Shakoor's blending of the modern with folk

Artworks by Abdus Shakoor

He is inspired by folk art such as Gazir pat, Laxmi shora, Alpana, Shital pati, Nakshi kantha and wood work. He is also influenced by the paintings of Jamini Roy. As a student of Fine Arts in Chittagong, he was guided and encouraged by Rashid Chowdhury. Along with the portraits, are the accompanying calligraphy which elaborates on the paintings of young lovers draped with the birds and animals of the countryside. The paintings, although folk in nature, are modern in presentation. He uses ink-drawing, water colour, acrylic and oil.

In one of his recent paintings he has a love story where the protagonist Shaju is seen with her confidante. One of the figures is in blue, while the other is black. The artist uses dark colours as he depicts the damsels with typical sultry complexions of our villages where the sun beats over most of the year. A bird is included in the composition to heighten the romantic and idyllic impact. Rupa, the hero, in turn, is seen confiding in his aunt in another painting. The women are done simply with dramatic lines to include clothes, jewellery and hairstyle.

There is then the depiction of Shaju revelling in the prospects of marriage . In the next few pictures Shakoor has brought in the village on both sides of the canvas. Thus we have houses, river, trees and sky instead of the intricate motifs of birds and animals, seen before in the artist's works. A bird is included to heighten the poetic effect.

When Shakoor began his artistic career, he experimented with the themes of Liberation War and other international problems. Doing research on Bangladeshi traditional forms he came across the book on Mymensingh ballads and so began his course through folk portraits and forms in dark and vibrant colours. "I love my country, its culture and language and these are the elements I want to heighten in my work. The presentation of my compositions, however, are of a modern nature," he says.

Dwelling on his student days, Shakoor says that he was lucky enough to get Zainul Abedin so that even now he soaks himself in his ideology. There were other dedicated teachers too like Qayyum Chowdhury, Anwarul Huq and Abul Bassat . His guide in Baroda, KG Subramanyam, was also an important factor in forming his style. Shakoor has been painting in the folk style since 1991.

Shakoor has won many awards such as the ones from India and Japan as well as a gold medal at the 15th Nation Art Exhibition, Dhaka. He has exhibited in India, Japan, Canada, Europe and the Middle East.