Abu Taher’s angst-filled, crisis-driven works project the modernist ethos and an urban sensibility struggling to come to terms with loss, alienation and anxiety. He admits his fascination for the power and energy of nature, and of the primordial and chaotic elements that characterize creation itself. In regard to style and formal arrangement, Taher has a penchant for geometry and the impasto technique. Taher (b. 1936, Chouddagram, Comilla) graduated from the Government Institute of Art, Dhaka, in 1963. He received an Honourable Mention Award from the Arts Council at the All Pakistan National Art Exhibition in 1965. Notable among his awards are the Silver Jubilee Award from the Bangladesh College of Arts & Crafts (1973), Honourable Mention Award in the 9th National Art Exhibition (1990) and the Ekushey Padak (1994). Taher is the founder president of the Dhaka Art Circle. He retired from teaching in 1997. In 2005 Bengal Foundation published a 17 min documentary (directed by M A Pallab) on Abu Taher, titled Imaginings.

Date: 27.07.2005 – 09.08.2005
Venue: Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts
Organiser: Bengal Foundation