The relation between life and art has been depicted in Towfiqur Rahman’s iron sculptures on display at the Gallery Shilpangan in Dhanmondi.
The artist’s fourth solo exhibition titled ‘Connecting Art, Life & Living’ displays the fruit of the concept of ‘art, life, process’ on which the artist had been working for last few years.
The artist also displays drawings based on the theme.
Moreover, selected works from his previous shows based on the same theme are on display at the exhibition.
The artist does not conceive his art as an ‘elite item’ separate from the life, for him art comes out of life and living as the artist says, ‘Art bears on life, and vice versa.’ ‘Art is a process. My art practice springs from this understanding. I try to represent the experiences and emotions of daily existence in may work,’ says Towfiq.
Though the twenty sculptures on display at the exhibition vary in the subject they incorporate the central theme of portraying life through sculptures. Done invariably with welded iron, Towfiq has manipulated iron to portray the theme.
For instance, sculptures titled River Bank 1 and 2 are, in fact, two women weighed down as if carrying a baby. The artist symbolises the fact that the flow of water in rivers is possible because of its banks through the portrayal of the fact that the flow of life is possible only for the mothers.
‘Towfiq’s entire journey has been a tentative attempt to weld art and life together,’ writes professor Lala Rukh Selim.
Sculpture Sunrise is a cock stretching its neck to harbinger the beginning of a day. Another sculpture titled Growth also shows the beginning; this time it is beginning of life depicted through an iron seed that grows into a tiny vertical seedling.
A series sculptures titled Face demonstrate the contemporary world of deception. All the five faces are made in a way that they suggest less of a face and more of the masks worn by the people.
Besides sculptures, the drawings in pen at the exhibition also demand attention. A series drawing titled Past are captivating. Done in ball pen, the series shows the ancient people in various postures and movements. All the works of the series have one thing in common – a horse – which for the artist has significance from his past. Soldiers on horseback are seen repetitively in these works.
The exhibition was inaugurated on September 27 and will be open for all from 12pm to 8pm till October 12.
-With New Age input
