"O Death O Dance", a solo visual art exhibition displaying artist Mobassir Alam Mazumder's compositions, is as mystical and beautiful as its name. During its inauguration on May 6 at the Bishwo Shahitto Kendro Art Gallery, veteran painter and Professor Emeritus Rafiqun Nabi graced the event as the chief guest. Artist and writer Professor Abul Mansur and art critic Syed Azizul Haque also attended the ceremony as speakers. Following the affectionate speeches from the guests, Prof Nabi declared the exhibition to be open for visitors. 

When I laid my eyes upon the name "O Death O Dance", I knew it was something I needed to dive deeper into, and seeing the artworks, I was overwhelmed. As an architecture student myself, and a person who was trained in visual arts as an extracurricular activity, I feel and realise the dedication and patience a person needs to create a detailed ink work. The depth of skills in optical illusion and the sense of proportions, volume, and discipline are crystal clear in Mazumder's drawings.

"O Death O Dance" features semi-abstract artworks done by Mazumder. His pen strokes depict his utmost control over the tools he has used — the lines are crisp, bold, and strong. The techniques and the intention behind the drawings have a sense of certainty in them. However, the directions, flows, shapes, and sizes are unpredictable, which makes the artworks much more intriguing. The forms are dynamic, and the volumes of spaces have hierarchy among them, giving the drawings a three-dimensional appearance. This sort of optical illusion has a high demand in today's art world.

The artist has a great sense of colours. He evidently keeps the colour saturation to a level that's comfortable for everyone to gaze at. The vibrant strokes create chaos, and yet the overall drawings look deeply and soothingly sublime. Sometimes there are glimpses of buildings in one-point perspective, ornamented with floral patterns, and these look straight out of fairy tales. The artist left me wondering if the compositions with chess pieces have any connection to politics. All the artworks have a certain language, similarities in the expressions, and yet, each is different from the other.

The artworks of Mobassir Alam Mazumder are unconventional and prove the extent of his ability to weave imagination into reality with delicate patterns and thought-provoking visuals. This one-of-a-kind art exhibition will continue to run at Bishwo Shahitto Kendro Art Gallery till May 10 (tomorrow).

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