View source for Portals:Arts:Poetic Paintings

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'''Poetic Paintings'''</div> 
By '''Nafees Ghaznavi''', ''Laila Sharmeen'', 2008. 
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In 1971 there was a second partition in the Subcontinent as Pakistan lost its eastern wing. The military-dominated Pakistan establishment reacted strongly, harshly and even stupidly to the breakup of Pakistan which came in less than 25 years of its existence.

To quote only one instance related to art and artists, Pakistan’s then ambassador in Washington D.C., ordered all the paintings of Bengali artists, hanging in the Embassy to be thrown away. The artists included some of the great masters, notably Zainul Abedin, Hameedur Rehman, Mohammad Kibria, and Mubinul Azeem. The paintings were hastily picked up by those members of the embassy staff, who either had knowledge of art or chose them for decoration in their homes and thus they became proud owners of great art. Today Bangladeshi artists’ work is much sought after all over the world including in Pakistan!

Both the countries drifted in chaos made worse by Machiavellian and macho military generals aided and abetted by corrupt and greedy politicians. The silver lining in both countries was the flourishing of art, literature, poetry dance and drama. Of the East Pakistani and later Bengladeshi artists, Mohammad Kibria (b. 1929) is a well-known name who excelled in printmaking; and his acclaimed abstract paintings won many prizes including in Pakistan. One of his students, Laila Sharmeen, recently exhibited her work at the Zenaini Gallery in Karachi. The influence of her mentor Kibria is strongly evident in her work. Her strength is also printmaking and she has established herself with her lyrical and serene paintings.

Sharmeen has grown up in an environment of art, literature, music, dance, theater and learning. She is particularly fond of poetry and her paintings display verses from some of the great Bengali poets, Rabindranath Tagore, Nazrul Islam and Jibanananda Das, as well as TS Eliot, Baudelaire and Shelley. She has also been greatly influenced by the French Impressionists and contemporary European art.

Sharmeen’s work subtly and artistically conveys her intense feelings and passion of feminist and peace ideals. Her use of colours aqua blue, olive green, yellow, red, orange; delicately mixed and matched is a delight for the eyes. The exhibit titled, ‘Shantih Shantih, Shantih’ is a passionate cry for peace, love and harmony. The work is full of joy, harmony, rhythmic unity and wishful fusion of colours. It encompasses the essential elements of poetry, idealism and spirituality and seems to be evolving, searching for a centre, a pivotal role from where to become a part of established artist.

From 1986 to the present Sharmeen has held a dozen solo shows and has participated in over 30 group shows in Bangladesh, Japan, Belgium, Pakistan and other cities.