Firoz Mahmud

FIROZ MAHMUD WWW.EXHIBIT320.COM | [email protected] | F-320, LADO SARAI, NEW DELHI – 110030 | +91-11-46130637 Firoz Mahmud Bangladeshi artist Firoz Mahmud works with several media including installation, Layapa Art (a Bangladeshi stencil technique), Urgency of Proximate Drawing (NinKI: UoPD), text, video and photographs which are based on Bangladeshi socio-political culture, myth, tradition and pop culture. In his debut two-person exhibition ‘Ninki: History runs over the Yamuna’, works include mixed media work on paper from the series ‘Drawings from the past’, wood carvings from the ‘Drawing History’ series and the artist’s more popular series from Urgency of Proximate Drawing(Ninki:Pop). In Mahmud’s work there is a deliberate interplay of both the larger responsibility of the artist as a key player within the politics of a nation in flux, as well as bringing to the forefront a very personal individualistic framework placed within the spectrum of ‘learned humor.’ The way in which one might experience this can vary based on how you approach Mahmuds practice. We live in a time where we see the emergence of artworks where life-experiences are being translated into a language of social and political concern. In Mahmuds work however, there is no urgent need to differentiate between an art conceived as plain propaganda and an art that avoids any such instrumentalization. And in it lies its success. In order to begin understanding the works in the current exhibition an interesting place to start would be Mahmud's large-scale project 'sucker'wfp21, a 26 foot fighter aircraft considers the interplay of militarism and war produced through public tax and revenue. The work involved the use of pasting the ‘Deshi’ bean to the surface of the craft, which formed a kind of interactive ritual, whereby volunteers helped fix these beans onto the aircraft, over the course of 12 months. The craft in itself, resembled something that was less intimidating because of the material and the process – almost as if offering a space of meditation to think through these socio-political inequalities for all involved. There is a mix of both the intangible narrative of history and contemporary issues with the tangible materiality of traditional techniques, materials and even the color ‘green’ to construct a lexicon for what could be called the ‘aesthetics of the political.’ As Mahmud explains, “I think both strategies of art-making and technical aspect are important for making art. I believe that technique and skill are necessary for creation. Primarily personal touches and intellectual nuances should be relevant to create work and it is dependent on content that influences the work.” Mahmud therefore builds through a deliberate process of de-construction and re- construction. In The Urgency of Proximate Drawing (Ninki:UoPD) Art Project, Firoz Mahmud focuses on celebrities in excited, playful, sporty and happy moments. He draws remarkable lines where they are about to fall or feel hard to gesture in the photographs. Their idolized appearances are highlighted by protective line drawings that display an awareness of the performative ethos of iconic expression. The lines underneath the falling position imply the stardoms can't fall down from the gestures and positions that they are held in. He’s literally creating building blocks of the imperceptible kind. In a way Mahmud is thinking through both, the architecture of the Body as well as the architecture of the Self in relation to constructed spaces. Architecture, at a fundamental level, creates a space for formulating meaning for what is otherwise just ‘empty’ or ‘nothing’. The literal act of making 4 walls, encloses this nothingness and in it we create ‘meaning’. These spaces that were otherwise voids become familiar to our own physicality – the intimacy of a bedroom, the solitude of a study or the communal vibe of a landscaped backyard – hold value and give our otherwise wandering souls a sense of belonging. It also reinforces the relationship between one human body and another. Within these constructed spaces, the relationships between one person and another is constantly defined and re-defined and most importantly, remembered by the trace of memories in the making or by nostalgia. In Mahmud’s hands these spaces and relationships offer a further narrative that is post-sentimentality. In two visually distinct languages, he is creating an index for the ‘Architecture of the Invisible’. There is a sense of an unending cycle – the invisible that was made visible is being made invisible again. What we ‘see’ in Mahmud’s Ninkipop images is essentially the unseen. He is constructing a trace, a memory through the absurdity of the physical movement, all of which is essentially nothing but the Void. Mahmud gives us a visual iconography rooted in humor and satire. Moving slightly away from these in terms of the visual aesthetic, is the series of wood print works that Mahmud has been focusing his practice on. While immediate relationships cannot be conjured up, the process, the materiality of wood and ink and the narratives employed tie the series Wood Curving (drawing Bengal history series) to the other series Mahmud has produced in this exhibition. Together with the mixed media drawing ‘Distance of the Past’, this seemingly disparate use of forms and materials is perhaps the most interesting aspect of Mahmud’s practice. What it does is relate his practice to the histories of deeply political artists like Ana Mendieta, for instance, where remaining less ‘repetitive’ or ‘similar’ or adhering too strictly to a ‘series’ allows for a certain autonomy of practice that is not easily co-opted into dominant narratives of art history. For artists such as Mahmud, being geographically situated within a very complex network of social, cultural and political networks – ones that are in a state of flux that is so tenacious and ever-changing - it becomes imperative to not be part of any one particular History. Here the artist is a ‘producer’ of many Histories and not just someone speaking to, or reflecting the same. As Mahmud articulates, “Art is a media to explore, to traverse with mind and material and compassion for everyday life. Aside from these, I make work that involves a time frame for longer sessions to make large scale installations and sculpture which involves society, locals and ardent supporters.” Text by Meenakshi Thirukode FIROZ MAHMUD B: 1974 Khulana, lives and works in Dhaka EDUCATION: 2011: PhD on Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts (Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku), Tokyo 2007: Masters of Fine Arts, Tama Art University, Tokyo 2005: Researcher, Tama Art University, Tokyo 2003: Artist-in-Research, Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2002: MFA, Dhaka University, Institute of Fine Arts, Bangladesh 1997: BFA, Painting, Dhaka University, Institute of Fine Arts, Bangladesh SOLO EXHIBITIONS: 2015 ‘ NinKi : History runs over Yamuna’, Exhibit 320, New Delhi Ota Fine Arts, Singapore Taymour Grahne Gallery,Occidental Mistery, New York 2013 Soaked Dream, Goethe Institute Dhaka, Dhaka `NinKi: UoPD-“Loss of the Toss is Blessing of their Disguise”, Dhaka Art Center, Dhaka 2011 `Dismal Cry of Heritage`, Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhaka `Traitor of Faith`, International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP), New York Lamentation in Two Lies`, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo 2010 `Yatta! Anzen! B.A.D. Museum of Contemporary Art Yuga Gallery, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo `Sucker`wfp21`[opened studio], Chinritsukan, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo `Whatever they are Scolded Your Star is Safe`, Asbestos Art Space and city billboards, Bandung, Indonesia 2009 Belief = Be live`, OZU Sapce, Umane, Italy 2007 ‘Flying Pixels from flying man’, BV & STVCV project, Khulna Vision TV & Dhaka intercity Bus service, Bangladesh 2006 Dis-tinc-tion’, Plaza Gallery, Tokyo GROUP EXHIBITIONS: 2015 “How ancient miniatures have been a source of inspiration on contemporary artists today”, Taymour Grahne Gallery, New York “Institute of Contemporary Art Singapore”, Contemporary Art of Bangladesh, Curated by June Yap, Singapore “Trinity”, Bengal Gallery, Dhaka, Trinity 2014 Fine Art Institute, Dhaka “Vivid Strata 2: New representation from Asia”, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore 2013 “Erasing Borders”- Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora 2013, Hammond Museum, New York-, “Setouchi Art Triennale” [Int`l Art Festival-Bangladesh Project], Kagawa, Japan “Vivid Strata 1: New representation from Asia”, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore “Erasing Borders”- Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora, Queens Museum of Arts, New York Brotkatze Collaborations exhibition at gallery Kunststueck, Berlin “National Art Exhibition”, Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka “Erasing Borders”- Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora, Flushing Town Hall, New York 2012 “Shifting Risks-(`Senses 7` exhibition)”, Dhaka Art Center , Dhaka “KIZUNA”, Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka 2011 12 artists from Bangladesh `40 years of Independence`, City Center, Agartala, India “Step Across This Line`-Contemporary art from Bangladesh”, Curated by Deeksha Nath, India & Pakistan, Asia House, Elmar Hermann and Firoz Mahmud, ISCP, New York Summerlight VII, Westbeth Gallery, New York “Open Studios” at International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP ), New York New Address, New Works, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo 2010 Hakase-Tenrankai [PhD final show], The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo “Screening”, Curated by Yuko Hasegawa, Kyoto Seika University, Kyoto “Transformation”, Project Space

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