Proshanta Karmakar's show at Radius Gallery

Noted artist Proshanta Karmakar Buddha lends his strong voice through pure realism. He does not confine himself with any singular theme and working process. He has worked on varied themes and has always tried to capture the theme's minutiae through his personal language and style. He is sincere, dedicated and workaholic by nature. Experimentation is his forte and he has been continuously experimenting through hues, lines and overall configuration of forms, compositions and figural presentation.

The artist identifies himself with the cultural heritage of the country. Liberation War and the valiant expressions of the freedom fighters have been articulated in his works remarkably. Fearless force in the form of horses, bold eyes and Bengali letters is a recurring theme in his paintings. His mode of expression is realistic and movement of the subjects is the key element in his works.

Several of Proshanta's acrylic- based paintings highlight two themes---- structural heritage of the country and the misery of common Bangladeshis.

Proshanta has highlighted the significant architectural heritage of the country. He visited locations and drew them with his personal touch. He feels a strong link with simple structural designs and compositions. The painter says, "Dhaka, which once had the highest number of heritage buildings, is fast losing them. Twenty or 25 years back, the country in total had 600 heritage structures that have dwindled to only 350. The government should amend the law to enable maintenance of historical buildings of the country."

In the series of paintings, Proshanta has used a variety of colours ranging from black to strokes of crimson, yellow, gray, green, blue etc. The figures and other objects are black, with varied dots of brighter hues to highlight them.

Many of Proshanta's images reflect anger, frustration, suffering, death, destruction and his subjects summarise the misery of common Bangladeshis in times of war and politics as well as economic turmoil. Proshanto maintains on canvases where he has articulated public frustration and hopelessness.

As an earnest painter and printmaker, Proshanto feels that he has some responsibility to his country. He records time, history and incidents. His language is bold and can be easily comprehended as he uses the canvas to protest brutality, inequality, political chaos, bigotry and violence. Most of his works highlight figures, and figures are connected to the objects that he has used in his serigraphs, acrylic and mixed media works.

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