e_Paper (25 November 2016)

16
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2016
DT
Feature
Art comes alive:
Sands of time exhibition, EDGE gallery
A collection of paintings by Jamal Ahmed that leave you yearning for more
•Feature Desk
Displayed eloquently inside the
EDGE Gallery and even outdoors, I
spent hours appreciating paintings
that touched subjects close to all
of us. Finding myself surrounded
by paintings that reacquainted
me with the scenic beauty of
Bengal, I was at my most blissful
at the Sands of Time Exhibition.
With works paying reverence to
the common people, capturing
the essence of their daily travails,
offering glimpses of them in their
most personal moments of rest
and relaxation, the artist Jamal
Ahmed demonstrates the grandeur
of simplicity.
With 120 exhibitions
completed, Ahmed, an alumnus
of the Institute of Fine Arts (DU) is
a leading figure within Realism, a
genre of modern art depicting the
real world and portraying
stories of real people as close
as possible to what is seen
through the naked eye.
I felt that his masterpieces
reassure the belief that art
actually is for everyone.
It does not discriminate
nor does it divide. What
it does however is pave
the way for enriching our
perspective, providing
our thought process with
insight and enables us
to question ourselves,
our surroundings. And if
intellectual stimulation
sounds too tedious a task for
your leisurely hours, art can
also serve to entertain you.
While it enlightens, it also
enables escape!
The interpretation
illustrated the common people’s
everyday reality is nothing short of
remarkable. I was subconsciously
drifting in and out of a riverine
setting by a moody sea, forgetting
the tranquil, modern ambience of
the gallery. The artist’s sweeping
strokes and supple textures will
make you question whether in fact
you are viewing a work created by
hand or if you may be mistaking
a painting to be a photograph –
such is his excellence in beguiling
his many longstanding, loyal
admirers.
Whether a gallery-sprawling
masterpiece or paintings more
humbly framed and huddled
into series sets, I could not help
but appreciate the intricacy and
detail invested into the creation of
Jamal Ahmed’s lyrical subjects and
exhilarating backdrops. You are
likely to be left staring at a piece,
adjusting your angle of sight by
pacing backwards and forwards
and tilting your head left to right,
like the antennae of a vintage
televi sion set.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity
to discover 60 evocative works of
silent beauty celebrating ordinary
lives and nature so captivating,
you will not want to think about
leaving this temporal journey.
Relax and let your senses glide.
The Sands of Time exhibition
has been extended and will now
run till 2 December.•
| comic review |
Heatwave
Mighty Punch turns up the
mercury
• Sabrina Fatma Ahmad
We’re almost done with
November, and sweater weather
is still nowhere in sight. Say what
you will, climate change deniers,
but this isn’t normal.
Even though the days are at
least bearable, and the evenings
even pleasant, 2016 has been
hot enough for us to not want to
weather another summer like the
one we had this year.
In Heatwave, or Issue 08 of the
Shabash comic, brought to you by
Mighty Punch Studios, we relive
just how bad it was.
The story is set in mid-summer
Dhaka, with the mercury at the
highest point, and nary a cloud in
the sky. Tempers are frayed, and
all the heat-related problems, such
as power outages,
water shortages, and
our ever-present
traffic jam doesn’t
do anything to help
matters. The anger
and frustration of
the city’s residents
flows in waves across
the dimensions,
waking an ancient
evil born of hate. This
creature, feeding
off the prevailing
negativity, like any
self-respecting
supervillain, begins
to wreak havoc with
the intention of
razing the city to the
ground, so that a new
order is established.
Dhaka’s, or perhaps
humanity’s only
hope is Shabash.
He’s of course aided
by his sidekick
Kiron and the nutty
scientist Keramoti,
and another surprise
hero reprising his
role from a previous
issue.
Written by Samir
Asran Rahman, who
recently released
his first YA fantasy
novel Zak and Zara,
the story has all the
It’s really amazing
how well he
captures the
essence of Dhaka
life and merges it
with the sensibilities
of Marvel comics
in a way that really
works
quirks and jokes one has come
to expect of the Shabash comics.
It’s really amazing how well he
captures the essence of Dhaka life
and merges it with the sensibilities
of Marvel comics in a way that
really works. Fahim Anzoom
Rahman and Mosharraf Hussain
(Nipu) have done a brilliant job of
depicting the intense heat in their
visuals.
Shabash #08 is available at KFC,
Pizza Hut, Rokomari, all Meena
Bazar outlets and PBS bookstores.
Don’t forget to catch the Mighty
Punch crew at Dhaka Comicon! •