THE second solo painting exhibition by Shahabuddin

Mohammad titled Made in Australia, which started on June 1 at the Zainul Gallery, Institute of Fine Arts university of Dhaka has changed the interior of the gallery. The use of overflowing

colours and forms of the painting has lent a new form and hue to the gallery.

Born in 1972, Shahabuddin graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka university in 1999 and did his Masters in Visual Arts from Canberra School of Arts, Australian National university in 2001. Shahabuddin has participated in

many group exhibitions and art workshops. His first solo exhibition was held at the Canberra School of Arts Gallery in 2001.

Shahabuddin looks at life from a bird's eye view. The colours and forms he tries to capture from his preferred viewpoint create unique shapes of their own. At a first glance his works seem to be thriving with

elements strange and bizarre. At closer look his themes become clear. His use of rigid geometric forms, squares, straight bars, curved bars are very interesting. These forms are either insignificant to an energetic surface or they determine the form of the composition.

Interesting exhibits of the show are 'Broken Life 13, 14 and

16' from his 'Broken Life' series. These three paintings are done in acrylic on craft-wood. The forms in these three are different then other works in the series. He paints emotional shock an accident can send to a family in 'Broken Life 9' through breaking of patterns and uneven colour formation. Shahabuddin does not focus on any particular

colour. Natural colours are used in his works. Most of the works are done in acrylic on oil sketch paper.

Shahabuddin Mohammad believes that life is very short and it is very important for an artist to capture the themes of day to day life on the canvas. He also feels that there is always scope for something new and

show something unseen. Describing his works Shahabuddin says, "To me the basic essence of enjoyment is in the use of attractive colours in a classical way."

The exhibition will continue everyday from 10:00 am-8:00 pm till June 7.