Dhaka: The inauguration of The Melancholy of Urban Life, 2nd solo painting exhibition by Sultan Ishtiaque will be held on 4 September, 2015 at 5:30pm in La Galerie of Alliance Française de Dhaka.

Bangladesh Heritage Foundation Chairman Wali-ur Rahman will be present on the occasion as the chief guest while Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Lee Yun-Young, and art critic Moinuddin Khaled will also be present as the special guest and guest of honour respectively. Alliance Française de Dhaka director M Bruno Plasse will welcome the distinguished guests and also preside over the opening ceremony.  

From his childhood, Sultan is fascinated for drawing and painting and urban subjects are always his main focus.  Sultan Ishtiaque is in the final year of MFA in the department of drawing and painting, faculty of fine arts, University of Dhaka. In recent years, he has participated in many group art exhibitions and art workshops. In 2012, he achieved the ‘Media best award in water color’ and recently he has own the ‘Media Best Award in Oil and Painting’, awarded by Dhaka University Fine Arts Department.                                            

Sultan Ishtiaque’s painting has a studious touch but he has a great tendency towards experimentation with themes and objects. A socially conscious artist, he paints metropolitan life, capturing the diverse moments of their social bindings. He closely observed the changing socio-political and economical condition of the Dhaka city. He paints ardently with the subjects of wounded people, downtrodden people and their daily chores.

Sultan portrays urban people — their sufferings, torments, bliss and ecstasies. In the ongoing exhibition, he has used pencil, watercolour, acrylic and oil on paper and canvas. Scrutinizing his works critically, one gets the feeling of similarities of tonalities — mellow and apparently translucent. He tries to express his feelings through simple realistic articulation. Colour differs from time to time in his works.

The exhibition unfolds life’s joy, ecstasy, peace, poetic aspect of urban life and human life.

Sultan’s creative process is spontaneous, touchy, scrupulous and detailed. His mode of expression is realistic. His works are time-consuming and attention-grabbing. The painter can both thicken and minimize his colours and approach varied layers of human emotions.

Most of his paintings articulate a tangible quality. Lighting is a prominent feature in the paintings and the artist generally prefers luminous light. Some of his figures look immobile. This stillness that’s inseparable from the sense of solitude these characters convey is what makes these works outstanding. Expressions of the subjects are quite noticeable in the works. His themes and approaches are closely connected to physiological experiments. He has also added illusion and emotion to his works.

Sultan has adored the creation of something novel and innovative, which is very close to the metropolitan community. He hails from Farmgate, one of the busiest and most crowded areas of Dhaka city. From the early 90s of the last century, the area has seen massive building and construction boom.  His objects and motifs have specific explanations. Overcrowded areas, adjoining buildings, people’s gathering, traffic congestion, busy streets, and historical architectures usually appear in his works. These elements symbolise time, history, poverty, city unplanning and many more. There’s a definite message in his work. The painter has documented his feelings, experiences, hopes and passions in his works.

Sultan has a passion for meticulously portraying rural and semi-urban ambiance with vibrant shades. In his short career span, he has developed a style, particularly in watercolour medium. The medium’s lucidity gives him a freedom to express his creativity properly. He has the longing and ability to transform his visual insight of the world into a mind-boggling approach.

Sultan’s works plunge deep into ship repairing and building in dockyard, panoramic view in Saint Martins, varied locations of Chandpur, semi-urban setting, boat riding, riverine beauty and more. Firstly he visited the spots then he has portrayed the surroundings. As a result, he feels the essence of surroundings and has immersed himself with the ambiance. He does not believe in copying from photographs.

Sultan gets pleasure by painting what moves his creative soul and enables him to translate an individual language, colour and composition. He clearly wants to focus the present. In the process, the viewer also gets to know the artist’s individuality and mental state of that moment.