The spirit of diversity in subjects and influences continues in Bangladesh`s contemporary art

Bengali art, prior to 1971 and even afterwards, was dominated by painters and prominent teachers; multi-faceted Mubinal Azim painted landscapes and nudes, Murtaja Baseer experimented with Cubism and Abstraction, Qamarul Hassan who is best known for his painterly sketches of Bengali women and villages, and watercolorist Zainul Abedin who depicted the fishermen and their boats, and also commented on the famine that hit Bangladesh. This spirit of diversity in subjects and influences continues in Bangladesh`s contemporary art and was on display at an exhibition of 50 paintings by ten painters, titled `Bohemian`, held at Karachi`s Galleria 919. 

Nazir Hossain and Abdus Shakkor Shah`s paintings are based on fables and Bengali folklore, respectively. Hossain is a self-taught painter, and his style of painting is almost comic-book like; some of the canvases are sectioned, each depicting a different scene or figure (perhaps influenced by Cubism), while the figures are one-dimensional, outlined in black, and coloured in bold, mostly primary colours.

As Aesop`s fables impart morals to children, Hossain`s style appropriately is appealing to children and to the child within us all who needs to be reminded time and again of these lessons. Shah`s paintings depict Bengali folklore, and are surprisingly rendered in a contemporary style, much like the style Pakistan`s own bohemian Bashir Mirza employed.  Meanwhile, decorative borders and flat colouring in Hossain`s and Shah`s paintings remind us of the Eastern aesthetics of the Miniature painting.

Goutam Chakarborthy`s paintings from the `Angry cat` series are Miniatures, however, the execution is rather Impressionistic, with the movement of the paint being visible. `Angry cat` is reminiscent of cave paintings; while the Miniatures originally illustrated the lives Mughal kings, and in Pakistan it has recently come to express the issues of contemporary society, Chakarborthy`s miniatures are perhaps looking back further to when art was a more organic means of communicating and recording. 

Abstract works by Mahmudul Haque and Kazi Rakib reflect the influence Europe has had in the arts all over the world, while the figurative works of Anukul Mojumder reminds one of Matisse.  However, Nasreen Begum and Biplab Biprodas showed a melding of the two styles; we see figures and faces emerge from Abstract and geometric forms, almost in a fantastic and dreamlike frenzy, much like the works of our own Mashkoor Raza. 

Alongside of the dreamlike images, Shawon Akand`s and Pradip Chakarborthy`s political and social commentary and political angst and frustrations come out in forms that are both shocking and familiar. Pradip Chakarborthy`s figures with their overly-large sized heads are much like the humorous caricatures found in political cartoons and is befitting to his comments on environmental degradation. Akand`s black and white paintings are abound with symbols of the male and female, as well as with imperialism, war, and the predatory nature of humans. 

`Bohemian` brought together Abstract, Miniature, Conceptual, Landscapes, Cubist, and Figurative paintings deriving inspiration from fantasy or politics, without overwhelming the viewer with the overall impression that the paintings were indeed Eastern, but employed a mode of expression that is not much different from ours.