Artist Nafiuzzaman’s Nafi’s ongoing solo exhibition “Kabyakala” at Dhaka Art Center is a true demonstration of Cubism, the most influential art movement in the early 20th century. The 70 excellent artworks on display truthfully showcases Nafi’s youthful endeavour in the world of art.
Cubism is a modern art movement that transformed European painting and sculpture and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture.
In Nafi’s creation, the elements of a cubist artwork – such as analysing objects, breaking them up, reuniting them in an abstracted form to represent the subject in a greater context by depicting it from a multitude of viewpoints – are dominant.
With a brilliant blend of charcoal on canvas and lithography, Nafi has portrayed human figure reassembling into animal form in his paintings. These two objects are unified so exquisitely that the new subject is shaped with a completely different figure.
His paintings are the representation of emotions revealed in the faces and shapes of the characters. The faces of humans, horses, fish and birds are replete with emotion in one of Nafi’s untitled charcoal painting.
His artworks also display several female figures with birds’ head and birds’ wings, which may symbolizs their craving for freedom. All the construction and fusion done on canvas by the enthusiastic artist are the embodiment of material obsession, unrest and confinement.
The exhibition started on Friday, open for all from 3pm to 8pm, and will end today. Nafi has dedicated the exhibition to Quyyum Chowdhury, one of the most renowned artists in the country who died on November 30 last year.
