“Drawing – 1” is a 2009 charcoal on paper painting by veteran artist Dhali Al Mamun. His drawing is not only his practicing tool or an aid to visual expressions but he took it as a complete medium of artistry. His drawing expresses the geometry of thoughts, realizations, and human experiences. It is a gateway to his mind, his only language in a sea of chaos, and his journey to finding himself. This moving image reflects his inner world, a world torn between truth and deceit.
He keeps his medium minimal not only to express visual narratives but also it is relevant to the subject matter of the artworks, its genealogy, history, and its representation.
Artist Profile
Dhali Al-Mamoon
Born in 1958 in Chandpur, Bangladesh, Dhali Al Mamoon received his post-diploma degree in printmaking at Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan WB, India. After earning his Masters’s degree in Fine Arts at the University of Chittagong, he moved to the Berlin University of Arts upon receiving a DAAD fellowship at HDK from 1993 to 1994. Currently based in Chittagong, he is one of the finest contemporary artists of our era.
He has participated in several international fairs and biennials: his last participation in the Asian Art Biennale, Dhaka, Bangladesh was in 2006 while in 2001 he exhibited in the Sharjah Biennale, U.A.E. In 2013, his work was presented in the Bangladesh Pavilion at the 55th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. He was featured in international group exhibitions in Delhi, New York, Paris, Copenhagen, Beijing, Cairo, and more. In 2006, he was awarded the Grand Prize at the 12th Asian Art Biennale, in Dhaka.
Drawing - 1
Artist Art Style
Dhali Al Mamoon is a Bangladeshi artist and pedagogue based in Chittagong. He is one of the leading contemporary visual artists working from the 80s with a diverse medium. His drawings, paintings, kinetic sculptures, and installations explore the varied systems of knowledge and experience that have converged overtime in his homeland. With shifting layers of light, liquid, texture, and form; Mamoon constructs complex, melodramatic experiences that are allegorical in effect – casting flickers of new light on our understanding of memory and history in our region.