“Fear of Darkness” is a 2008 acrylic on canvas by Nisar Hossain. It belongs to the series by the same name. These paintings have been conceived as a response to the rise of fundamentalism in the country. The artist’s take on the dark time that dawned after democratic principals have all been crushed to make way for parochialism in politics have powerfully brought into view through the beastly portrayal of political actors. The color black set the backdrop to convey the feelings of uncertainty, shock, and fear. The artist is keen to tap into the primal fear that works in our collective psyche to point to the violence that lies latent in our society. In this work, Nisar plumbs the seamy side of politics and pushes his motifs to the bizarre end of the spectrum to express the social truth. The gestures of the animalistic humans radiate fear, it reminds us of the life under threat, a life without the freedom of speech, freedom of expression and most of all the fear of being coerced into submission.
Nisar Hossain
Nisar Hossain is a renowned artist, art historian, connoisseur, activist, organizer who has served as the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka, for the third consecutive time till the toppling of the AL-led government in July 2024. Born in 1961, he completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1981 from the Department of Drawing & Painting of the then institute of Fine Art, University of Dhaka. To pursue higher study, he went to Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, India, obtaining his Masters in Painting in 1985. He was one of the founding members of the Shomoy, a group of artists responsible for sparking a new figurative movement in the early 1980s to address the political stalemate of their time. His art continues to confront historical traumas, including atrocities during Bangladesh’s Liberation War of 1971, and uses vivid colours and stark lines to depict the return of the quizlings. He joined as faculty at the Institute of Fine Art, now, Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka, as a teacher in the late 1980s. Focused on revivification of folk tradition, as a researcher and artist, Nisar has been instrumental in holding exhibitions, conducting in-depth research and staging seminars on and around folk heritage of the country to advance the cause of contextual art and craft.
Fear of Darkness
Art Style
Artist Nisar Hossain has been focused on both urban and rural popular art forms and one of the first few artists who leveraged the linear style to speak to subject matters such as political violence and fear-mongering. He has been questioning the validity of our perception of “normal” life and “palatable” art in this country since he co-founded the artist group Shomoy in the early 1980s. His Herculean efforts continue to upset the mainstream modernist practices and has given rise to a wave of debates in the creative circle around modernity and its incursion into the art scene of Bangladesh. As a socially conscious and self-reflexive artist, he always tries to be in time to address the anomalies of society in the spirit of the Liberation War. Stylistically, his modern approach to art takes into consideration the age-old tradition of the land to create images of social-political significance.
Gallery
Title: Dry Point
Dimension: 6″ X 4.5″
Year: 1980