Page 46 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

PAINTING 43

series paintings also expresses this
philosophical ardor, for example–
Transformation (fig. 1.23), Sphere etc.
Aminul Islam’s artworks started to
show a tendency towards abstraction
from the year 1956. It can be said that
he started his journey into composing
completely abstract images from late
1960s. Up till 1970, his practice in
painting progressed more or less in the
same trend. From the semi-geometrical
and semi-abstract, he progressed
towards pure abstraction– towards an
aesthetic arrangement of colors, lines
and shapes. This arrangement is an
attempt at pictorial beauty which is
parallel to musical beat, tempo and
rhythm, which may remind us of Kandinsky as a comparison. Simultaneously life and fig. 1.23 Aminul Islam,
the universe, man’s position in the context of the cosmos made him ponder. The Transformation-3,
manifestation of all these occurred in the Transformation series during the sixties. acrylic, 1967
Clustered forms, texture, and brightness of light create a cosmos like environment. The
independence war of Bangladesh stirred him and to express his response to it he left
the world of abstraction and again turned to representational style– in a few collages he
depicted the horror of absolute destruction. Moreover, he created a few paintings in the
Surrealist style where he attempted to capture contemporary times through various
symbols and signs. From1974 Aminul Islam composed a few paintings by attaching
broken pieces of glass to the canvass. This is also a kind of self-discovery and
questioning of life. The artist has seen his own distorted and broken image in the pieces
of broken mirror and seems to be expressing the alternate personality within the
individual. In Sphere, another series of the same period, a centralized circular form
implies the state of motion of the revolving universe. His questions regarding life
appear again and again through the explosion, gyration and other symbols. Starting
from the beginning of the nineties in the Fungus series paintings and the use of dancing
lines in more recent times are also manifestations of the two key themes of Aminul
Islam’s thoughts on art. One is the consideration of the pictorial plane– an attempt to
unify colors, lines and shapes. The other is his questioning of life– the urge to
determine the position of earth and man in the cosmic context. Aminul Islam has
composed a few important murals in the fresco and mosaic method. Among these, the
ones in the Bangladesh Bank building, Holy Cross College, Secretariat, Osmani
Memorial Auditorium, BCIC building, Janata Bank etc. are worth mentioning.
Hamidur Rahman is a restless, determined, extremely individualistic and perceptive
artist. He is always eager to break the shackles of conventionality, always