Judging by their looks, they are still in their teens, some of them have yet to cross the threshold of O Levels, but the level of maturity seen in their paintings and drawings is hardly a testimony to their age or academic credentials.
These young painters – 28 of them, all students of either O Levels or A Levels in different English-medium schools – have put their works on display at the Dhaka Art Centre in Dhanmondi. Titled ‘Colours of Youth’ and dedicated to the memory of artist Qayyum Chowdhury, the exhibition showcases a collection of 148 paintings and drawings done in different mediums.
Farid Hossain, who organised the show, said, ‘I have been teaching arts for many years. But this is the first time that I’ve organised such a show with paintings done by my own students.’
Some of the artworks showcase the ingenuity of their makers.
Take Sakina Hossain’s acrylic work ‘Majestic Creatures,’ where she painted two white horses on the run. The straightened physiques of the horses, bent slightly on one side, make them look majestic.
Vennesa Kaiser’s acrylic painting ‘The Fisherman’ is a close portrait of a wrinkled, poor old man. The wrinkles and markings on his face suggest a hard and troubled past. The works of Saniul Islam and Quazi Adelina Billur also deserve mention because of expressive details in their paintings.
Saniul’s acrylic painting of a rural household is delicate and nuanced. He has taken care to bring in all possible elements of a typical household – working woman, playing children, roaming goats, tethered cows, hay-hut, and tin-roofed sheds.
Adelina Billur’s ‘Smoking Man’ is a notable work at the show. Billur has impressively captured the nuances of a face and even the smoke he breathes out in the painting.
‘For me and most of us, this is the first time that our works are being displayed at a renowned gallery. We are all excited and happy,’ said Saniul Islam.
The exhibition, inaugurated on January 30, will be open from 12pm to 8pm till February 05.
-With New Age input
