Wood Cut Prints by Mokhlesur Rahman from Bangladesh: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR WOOD CUT PRINTS BY...

The most die-hard save-trees campaigners will cut Rahman a lot of slack. For, he's not really killing the trees when he uses their wood.

An exhibition of wood-cut prints by Mokhlesur Rahman from Bangladesh is on at the Kalakriti Art Gallery, from 11th to 25th April. The collection comprising about 25 works is called Boundless Horizons, that Mokhles has done on media like wood-cut prints on wooden plates and wood-cut prints on fabric.

Mokhles completed his BFA in 1984 and MFA in 1996 from the Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka University. Since then, he has been practicing print-making as a freelance artist. He has gained recognition as a distinguished print-maker and is the proud recipient of many awards of distinction. He has won the highly prized Best Award in the Asian Biennale held at Dhaka on behalf of his country, as well as invitations to participate in well-known galleries at home and abroad. These are what inspire him to practice print-making.

In the wide world of print-making, Mokhles has selected and laid stress on a particular medium of his choosing, which is laborious and difficult. The medium is called wood-cut or wood-block printing. In this method of picture-making, the hardness of wood is transformed with the infusion of aesthetics, and creativity plays a major and necessary part to preserve the characteristics of this medium.

The medium of print-making is rife with doubts and uncertainties at each step till the printing is completed. The artist holds within himself the concept of how much aesthetic fulfillment can be achieved from his own medium. Thus the construction of each image is weighed down with a real anxiety. Overall, the phenomenon maybe likened to a journey - with an unknown destination.

The medium of woodcut involves more risk in the successful attainment of these objectives than the media of drypaint, etching or lithography. Mokhles is a passionate artist in the field of woodcut. He has molded the medium to suit his practice.

This is Mokhles's 4th solo exhibition, with him having participated at the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, the Shilpangan Art Gallery in Dhaka, the Academy of Fine Arts in Kolkata, and various workshops in India and Bangladesh. He was awarded the Grand Prize at 10th Asian Art Biennale in which many renowned artists from all over Asia participated.

He is a member of Bangladesh Charushilpi Samsad and founder member of Charupith (a centre for art research) in Jessore, Bangladesh. He is also a publisher of Shilparup, a quarterly Bangla Art Magazine.

For further details, please contact the art gallery at 6656-4466 for further details.