Shamsul Wares

Syed Jahangir’s most recent paintings are eloquent in their direct emotional appeal, poetic expression and sensitivity to nature.

The paintings are abstract and figurative – abstract because they have flat surfaces and figurative because there is a representation of forms in space. Jahangir seems to be wrestling with the problem of asserting the subject while maintaining a measure of abstraction in the forms. He employs a pictorial vocabulary filled with figures engaged in various daily activities from rural life. But they are rendered in highly abstracted forms, with outlines and details; in the midst of a landscape of river banks, boats, paddy fields, trees and the sky, which he paints in high-keyed blue and yellow pigments.
Syed Jahangir’s works reveal a deep identification with and empathy for the subject. He relies on simple and reductive but powerful forms, realized in a manner of direct expression designed to heighten the viewer’s emotional response. The essence of his work is in the expression of inner meaning through outer form.
There is an originality and innocence in the way his paintings depict man’s struggle for a simple, rudimentary existence. They do not take a critical stance against, offer any explanation for or pose questions to society but instead strive to simply narrate the experience of living. Urban motifs and subjects like the streets, markets, buildings, vehicles and people do not attract his attention. While the painter may physically exist in the city, working from his home and studio in Mohammadpur, his artistic soul remains rooted in his native village in the Satkhira district. He paints and creates ink renderings through a process of recollection, drawing inspiration from his childhood memories and periodic visits to his village. This enables him to draw figures using his intellect and imagination. They lack distinctive physical details, which lend them abstracted shapes, but are expressively rendered in vibrant colours. The obscurity of these figures when coupled with the striking yellows and blues in the background, provide a metaphysical accent to his paintings.
After graduating from the Art College* in Dhaka in 1955, Syed Jahangir gained recognition for his realistic paintings with meticulously rendered details, such as the ‘Tribal Girls’ (1964) in watercolour, and ‘Portrait of Natasha’ (1958) in black ink. In his watercolours, he was able to effectively capture the mood and atmosphere of his subjects. During this period his colour abstractions, with their highly spontaneous, free and explosive compositions as seen in paintings like ‘A Dancing Woman’ (1964) in oil on board and ‘Invincible Fortress’ (1964) in oil on board, earned him respect among connoisseurs. These works were remarkable for their clarity, craftsmanship and expressiveness. Although these paintings were rendered using irregular and free forms, Syed Jahangir also became interested in geometry at this time, in order to control and establish greater balance in his compositions. ‘The Vigil’ (1964) in oil on board, is a testimony to Picasso’s influence on his work. As part of his interest in pure geometry, he experimented with flat, rectangular planes in his oils ‘Textures and Shapes around Soft, Round Pebbles’ (1968) and with curvilinear shapes and forms in ‘Victory Column’ (1971) and ‘Near to Victory’ (1971). These last two oils were painted as an ode to the Liberation War.
In the mid-seventies, Syed Jahangir became involved in pure abstraction, using colour and form in his oils. In ‘Rejuvenation of a Soul’ (1974) and ‘Premonition’ (1975), the various shades of pink strive to capture the internal force and dynamism of his themes. His fascination with flame-like shapes can also be seen expressed with new vigour in the series ‘Ecstasy’ (1976) done in oil on canvas. In a later series called ‘Vibrations’ (1978 and 1980) in oil on canvas, he continued playing with curvilinear shapes and used complex combinations of opposing colours such as blue, orange, red and green. The paintings in this series not only evoke great emotive power in the viewer but also testify to his sense of clarity of forms and the purity of colours.
Syed Jahangir gradually worked towards a simplification of forms and brought flat spaces rendered in strong colours on his canvases. As a result, in his oil paintings from 1984 to 1987, he can be seen to have achieved greater poise and control as exemplified in works like ‘Quest of the Unknown I and II’ and ‘Torchlight Procession’. He continued in this direction by creating pleasing colour-forms in space in his oil paintings, as demonstrated in ‘Peasant Woman’ (1991) and ‘About to Bloom’ (1991). These two paintings show his deep passion for warm colours and a masterly control over composition. In his pursuit of pure abstraction, he became more flexible and dynamic through new experiments with the brightness and darkness of colour-forms as can be seen in the series ‘Nature in Rhythm’ (1993) done in oil on canvas.
In the late nineties, Syed Jahangir resumed his interest in realism and opted for a kind of abstract expressionism in his paintings. He began exploring abstraction in his works depicting rural scenes in Bangladesh, many of which were exhibited in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007. His ‘Fishing at Night’ (2005), worked in oil on canvas, is regarded as one of his masterpieces and features a wonderful tension between realist and abstract styles. He also adopted ultramarine blue and golden yellow hues into his palette during this period as well.
There is deep spiritual content in the ink renderings exhibited at the Bengal Art Lounge in Gulshan. Syed Jahangir has achieved this by leaving large, empty white space in his drawings, where human figures and homesteads diminish and become ephemeral. He has concretized his works by rejecting that which is superficial, and attaching himself only to the essential elements of each work – this has enhanced the artist’s clarity of purpose and the purity of his artistic pursuit.
Syed Jahangir’s lifelong passion for art has kept him tirelessly engaged with his work. He has long held a belief that the expression of one’s inner feelings is more important in art than representations of surface appearances. In this regard, Kandinsky remains alive in his conscience. His experimentation with colour and form was always a means to fulfill his quest for the metaphysical. Syed Jahangir is a master painter and versatile craftsman whose art remains timeless, treading familiar ground through new and innovative techniques.