The third solo art exhibition by Zahangir Alom, titled ‘Songs of Soul,’ has commenced at La Galerie of the Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD) in the capital.
Anis A. Khan, Member of the Board of Governors, Society for the Promotion of Bangladesh Art, Professor Mohammad Eunus, Chairman of Art Bangla Foundation, Zareen Mahmud Hosein, Director of Shasha Denims Limited, and Professor Dr. Malay Bala, Department of Oriental Art, Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka, attended the opening ceremony as special guests on Friday.
Zahangir paints from the core of his heart, intoxicated by the festival of creative pleasures. Having worked as the 'Resident Artist' at the Oriental Painting Studio for a long time, he has developed his unique style of watercolour wash technique. The maturity of colour mixing is the unique quality of his paintings. Some of his works are semi-abstract. The mature arrangement of colours in the painting can be seen in conjunction with the maturity of his senses.
The melody of the music, the rhythm of the poem, and the dance of the female body are alluded to in his paintings. Sometimes ‘Gaudiya Nritya,’ sometimes ‘Desh,’ sometimes ‘Bageshree,’ sometimes ‘Khamaj’ or ‘Malkauns’ raga; sometimes the play of clouds, sometimes the afternoon of Late Autumn, sometimes magical twilight, sometimes the beauty of Bengal, sometimes ‘Leelakirtan,’ sometimes the subject-narrative of mythological anecdotes play in his paintings.
He paints many images of flowers that do not exactly resemble real flowers. Here, the color comes with the charming message of form. The itinerant artist's work celebrates the visible nature, but his view of nature is not a close-up view. He made a series of paintings based on the motifs of Bengal’s Sarachitra, which are mixed with the new language of Bengali folk paintings. The inner flowers, female figures, trees, and foliage are arranged in an imagined alchemy. Although the painting uses a traditional wash method, the painting is full of three-dimensional mixed-colour play.
This exhibition includes works in the watercolour wash technique. The shape of the figure is similar to a heap of clouds in the movement of colours. There is no attempt at clarification, but the figures (mostly female figures) give the appearance of real flesh figures. This skill has been acquired through his long practice and watching the work of oriental artists in the studio.
In most of his works, he has used red, blue, yellow, orange, and black colours with the same brightness. There remains the expanse of standing trees, the glimmer of light through the gaps in the trees, and the evocative silhouettes of childhood memories in his paintings. Almost every work has a touch of blue. The monsoon, rain-drenched nature, the smell of the earth, and the colour of the air are saturated in the melody of nature’s music.
The exhibition is open to all until November 11.