Sahabuddin in India
Posted by artnavigator on September 1, 2008
Sahabuddin Ahmed is perhaps the most important surviving artist of Bangladesh. For long he had been settled in Paris, visiting his country once in two years. But unlike most other Bangldeshi artists
Shahabuddin Ahmed
Sahabuddin had not held any solo show in India. But this year at the initiation of Ganges Art, a Kolkata Based Gallery, Shahabuddin came to Kolkata and held a show of some 36 of his works. Most of the works were old, but there were a few new works too. The exhibition was inaugurated by another important artist Sunil Das.
The response in Kolkata has encouraged many galleries to take his works in other shows. In New Delhi’s much publicised Indian Art Summit, Sahabuddin will be presented by IndianArtCollectors an online art-site alongside imposrtant artists like Jogen Choudhury, Sunil Das, and contemporaries like Devajyoti Ray and Chintan Upadhyay.
Shahbuddin Ahmed’s life story is as interesting as his art. As a student he had participated in the Independence war of Bangladesh but soon after the assasination of Bangladesh’s first President Mujibur Rehman, Shahabuddin left his country and settled in Paris. Deeply inspired by Gandhi, Shahabuddin had made portait of the latter which was auctioned three years back by the Christies. Yet Shahabuddin never visited Gandhi’s land for almost 20 years.
Indian audience will definitely love Shahabuddin’s fast paced works. Though his style is much inspired by the European styles of the 80s, there is some kind of raw freshness that still makes the apeal of Shahabuddin magnetic.
