Hailed as one of the 50 master painters of contemporary art, Shahabuddin exhibits his works for the first time in Singapore at Alliance Française de Singapour.

Shahabuddin’s works reflect contemporary life and times. Their essence glorifies life’s struggle transcending both time and space.

Shahabuddin fought in the battle for the liberation of Bangladesh and this has greatly impacted his work. With great erudition and skill, he relies heavily on the power of motion as his mode of artistic expression.

He endeavours to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos through the use of colour - most often monochromatic with splashes of bright unusual colours.

The artist is in search of an indestructible force, and has never stopped being a combatant in the fight against oppression as he was in his native Bangladesh. It is this that underpins his philosophy.

This energy can be seen in the kinematics of his paintings in the realisation that movement has beauty. The figures move, but there is tranquillity in the end.

His baroque life figures turn towards space seeking light and energy, are a strange mixture of Western influence rooted in his place of origin. He emerges as an international painter with his own unmistakable individuality. Life is a competition right till the end and so there is the recurring motif of sportsmen in his paintings.

The imagery of fearless human figures, which are in the motion of running, seems to burst free from their skin with their flesh, blood and sinew.

Violence abhors him. His suffering mythological figures on the canvas are unreachable. They are future bound. The message is terrifying.

 

With one jet of paint Shahbuddin uproots his masterful energy and projects it onto the canvass. In a burst of almost lyrical enthusiasm he is unable to restrain his vital force and lets it escape through his brush. The result is a ballet of colour.

As spectators, this frenzy to exist hits us straight in the face. To exist of course… but in freedom.

His paintings have been displayed in numerous prestigious galleries all over the world and are in several museum collections. Amongst them, The “Bangabandhu Smriti Museum“ Dhaka, The Bangladesh National Museum, The Seoul Olympic Museum, Korea, National Museum, Taiwan, Museum of Olympic, Lausanne, Switzerland and the Bourn-En-Brasse Museum, France. Accolades and awards have been numerous.

Shahabuddin has won the Prime Minister’s Gold medal as the best painter in Bangladesh in 1973.

In 1975, he won the silver medal from Salon des Artites France, and gold medal, from the Salon de Printemps, France. In 1992 he received the 50 Master Painters of Contemporary Arts, Olympiad of the Arts, Barcelona, Spain. And in 2000 he won the Independence Award from Gallery Brulee, Strasbourg, France.

3 – 9 September 2005