This interview was published in the Daily Observer, a leading English daily in Bangladesh, back in 2014-15.
At the first impression, I found him a man with penetrating eyes, simply putting on a red Panjabi and most interestingly a Dalian moustache that made me afraid of a short tempered artist. Whether coincidentally or by own creative instinct, noticing my subtle hesitation, he threw me a warm, child-like laughter that melted the ice of introduction. Then we walked for a minute’s distance from Dhanmondi-32 and entered into the gallery of Shilpangon where a 10-day long etching aquatint exhibition ‘Shadow of Concave’ was going on there. During an afternoon tea session there, Artist Sohel Pranon outspoken his inner thoughts.
As a painter, Sohel Pranon believes in aesthetics and social value of any form of art rather than exhibitions or competitions. So are his works simple in presentation with an in-depth philosophy of arranging the decentralizing surroundings in the natural order, rejecting the extreme materialism. His pieces in mixed media are a nostalgic call for the simple village life. Moreover, a vivid and unpretentious postmodern attitude towards life and art to visualise inner thoughts rather unnecessary abstraction, as well as search for the root, gave his works an outstanding dimension.
So said he, “Art is for the crowd not for the cattle neither it is detached from life and social context. It has an accessibility and acceptance to the people from every walk of life. It is created to beautify the inner instincts of human beings, not to create pointless fantasy and raise romantic criticism, though understanding the in-depth meaning of any form of art requires vast study. Artists’ works spread a glow of aesthetics like the burning Sun.”
The first impression of his works is effortless like an adolescent’s sketch-book paradoxically the dire lines he uses are gigantic and nostalgic like SM Sultan. On the other hand, a dream like presentation of surroundings seems similar to Salvador Dali- in a word the pieces recall a world of childhood fantasy that we have lost in the lethargy of city life at the same time depicts the relief we are searching for at our mature age. For example, towering huts and haystacks represent a dream of well planned urbanization and lifestyle of the global villagers, keeping the root as well as century long culture and tradition alive fostering a moderate materialistic thinking.
(He paints in a dreamy and obscure background that seems a magic or dream reality of Dali or Marquez. On the other hand, the scenic beauty of villages and working class villagers are drawn in a simple narrative way without any complication and with a greater nostalgia, albeit to say).
Pranon’s experiments seems a gigantic deconstruction of the Oriental and Western styles, a deconstruction of, Jainul, Sultan, Picasso, Dali, - showing a great and due respect to them and maintaining a chronology of time.
Being an apple of family’s eye, Sohel Pranon’s 27-year long journey to be a professional artist, obviously from a very tender age, was not that much easy. But through his passionate efforts and exemplary success finally he was able to manage his parents. He started career with the mainstream cultural centres of Jessore like Charupith that helped him to create his own artistic world. Pranon saw the harsh socio-political transition period of 1986 to 2013, the revolution against dictatorship, political rampage, drug addiction, decaying youth community, unplanned urbanisation and so on that deeply influenced him. He was always against the traditional schooling system with a history of study breaks. At last he managed to complete his MFA degree from University of Development Alternative (UODA) in Dhaka, ‘just for the sake of an academic career’ but he took painting as oxygen. Mainly after completing his MFA he started to work professionally and worked with BTV for a short time.
Bornika, defined by Pranon as a sanctuary or Asram, a village for artists, was established in 2011 at his native village of Jessore. He bought some lands and formed an art-hut to keep a contact among the artists. Many young artists from different parts of the country joined there. During this period he realised to sum up his 12-year long experimental journey to a station for to reach the next destination as straight from the heart he believes in a systematic way of life like the cosmic set of laws. In March of 2013 he organised his first exhibition at Dhaka Art Gallery.
“Why there isn’t any chronological and organised artistic movement in Bangladesh?”
Sohel Pranon answered in an alleging tone to the Daily Observer, “We have only half an idea towards our life and philosophy. Negotiations have brought us in a level where livelihood is the sole purpose of our life. Meritorious youths are running after better facilities of western life, moreover, the few come back to the country, ridiculously practice a half learned and pretentious babu culture of no use. So, finally our art and culture is now wandering like a limbo”
The moment to bid goodbye comes when the evening fell asleep in the lap night. Sohel was singing one of his composed songs written by his wife
“I wander, I wonder
..........Uncover and discover
The wondered wanderer in yourself.”
I do not know whether he did bid me a goodbye or warmly invited to his Ashram, Bornika.
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| Sohel Pranon |
At the first impression, I found him a man with penetrating eyes, simply putting on a red Panjabi and most interestingly a Dalian moustache that made me afraid of a short tempered artist. Whether coincidentally or by own creative instinct, noticing my subtle hesitation, he threw me a warm, child-like laughter that melted the ice of introduction. Then we walked for a minute’s distance from Dhanmondi-32 and entered into the gallery of Shilpangon where a 10-day long etching aquatint exhibition ‘Shadow of Concave’ was going on there. During an afternoon tea session there, Artist Sohel Pranon outspoken his inner thoughts.
As a painter, Sohel Pranon believes in aesthetics and social value of any form of art rather than exhibitions or competitions. So are his works simple in presentation with an in-depth philosophy of arranging the decentralizing surroundings in the natural order, rejecting the extreme materialism. His pieces in mixed media are a nostalgic call for the simple village life. Moreover, a vivid and unpretentious postmodern attitude towards life and art to visualise inner thoughts rather unnecessary abstraction, as well as search for the root, gave his works an outstanding dimension.
So said he, “Art is for the crowd not for the cattle neither it is detached from life and social context. It has an accessibility and acceptance to the people from every walk of life. It is created to beautify the inner instincts of human beings, not to create pointless fantasy and raise romantic criticism, though understanding the in-depth meaning of any form of art requires vast study. Artists’ works spread a glow of aesthetics like the burning Sun.”
The first impression of his works is effortless like an adolescent’s sketch-book paradoxically the dire lines he uses are gigantic and nostalgic like SM Sultan. On the other hand, a dream like presentation of surroundings seems similar to Salvador Dali- in a word the pieces recall a world of childhood fantasy that we have lost in the lethargy of city life at the same time depicts the relief we are searching for at our mature age. For example, towering huts and haystacks represent a dream of well planned urbanization and lifestyle of the global villagers, keeping the root as well as century long culture and tradition alive fostering a moderate materialistic thinking.
(He paints in a dreamy and obscure background that seems a magic or dream reality of Dali or Marquez. On the other hand, the scenic beauty of villages and working class villagers are drawn in a simple narrative way without any complication and with a greater nostalgia, albeit to say).
Pranon’s experiments seems a gigantic deconstruction of the Oriental and Western styles, a deconstruction of, Jainul, Sultan, Picasso, Dali, - showing a great and due respect to them and maintaining a chronology of time.
Being an apple of family’s eye, Sohel Pranon’s 27-year long journey to be a professional artist, obviously from a very tender age, was not that much easy. But through his passionate efforts and exemplary success finally he was able to manage his parents. He started career with the mainstream cultural centres of Jessore like Charupith that helped him to create his own artistic world. Pranon saw the harsh socio-political transition period of 1986 to 2013, the revolution against dictatorship, political rampage, drug addiction, decaying youth community, unplanned urbanisation and so on that deeply influenced him. He was always against the traditional schooling system with a history of study breaks. At last he managed to complete his MFA degree from University of Development Alternative (UODA) in Dhaka, ‘just for the sake of an academic career’ but he took painting as oxygen. Mainly after completing his MFA he started to work professionally and worked with BTV for a short time.
Bornika, defined by Pranon as a sanctuary or Asram, a village for artists, was established in 2011 at his native village of Jessore. He bought some lands and formed an art-hut to keep a contact among the artists. Many young artists from different parts of the country joined there. During this period he realised to sum up his 12-year long experimental journey to a station for to reach the next destination as straight from the heart he believes in a systematic way of life like the cosmic set of laws. In March of 2013 he organised his first exhibition at Dhaka Art Gallery.
“Why there isn’t any chronological and organised artistic movement in Bangladesh?”
Sohel Pranon answered in an alleging tone to the Daily Observer, “We have only half an idea towards our life and philosophy. Negotiations have brought us in a level where livelihood is the sole purpose of our life. Meritorious youths are running after better facilities of western life, moreover, the few come back to the country, ridiculously practice a half learned and pretentious babu culture of no use. So, finally our art and culture is now wandering like a limbo”
The moment to bid goodbye comes when the evening fell asleep in the lap night. Sohel was singing one of his composed songs written by his wife
“I wander, I wonder
..........Uncover and discover
The wondered wanderer in yourself.”
I do not know whether he did bid me a goodbye or warmly invited to his Ashram, Bornika.
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