EXHIBITION
The Icons of Dhaka
American artist Jon Den Hartigh presents his experience of Dhaka through his exhibition Pop Wallah
10 Brown Rickshaw, mixed mediums on wood, 22x22cm, 2012.
A Bangladeshi spectator would wonder at the icicles on the ever familiar rickshaws Jon Den Hartigh painted against red, yellow and green patterned background. However, once you get to know the traveller that manifest himself through Hartigh's paint-brushes, the icicles seem quite plausible.
The 44-year-old art teacher has been living in Bangladesh since 2011, teaching at the American International School Dhaka. His career has taken him to other countries in South Asia and Africa. Yet, following the footsteps of ordinary tourists, he too collects souvenirs, but in his own special way. “When you go to New York, you want to buy the statue of liberty, something to remember,” he says. This idea of collecting things from the 'other' place intrigues the artist. “I want to a take a CNG home, a rickshaw home. Many people do. I am sort of obsessed with this idea,” he admits.
Hartigh is fascinated by the various kinds of vehicles that ply the streets of Dhaka; especially those that are not too common in other countries. “Whenever a foreigner will come here, those are the things that they will notice about Dhaka,” he says adding that Bangladeshi rickshaws and CNGs are quite different from those that are found in India and Sri Lanka. “They are different here with the cages. They are different in every country,” he says. The flower patterns on the steel doors of the encaged CNGs in Dhaka's street thus do not escape Hartigh's eye, neither do the star shaped steel cover protecting the head light.
Pink Double Rickshaw, acrylic on canvas, 122x157cm, 2013.
Man Standing on Rickshaw 1, acrylic on canvas, 119x111cm, 2013.
Unlike other foreign artists, Hartigh's focus is not on rickshaw art rather the vehicle as a whole. Yet the bright, loud colours used in rickshaw arts appear in the backgrounds of the paintings. “I love the pink ones. I love how they customise them,” he says. Except for the Mynah bird on the meshed wires, rickshaw is the dominant subject in most of Hartigh's painting, especially amongst the smaller ones. He believes that multiple images on the same subject provide him with the opportunity of improvement and further experimentation.
Hartigh's fascination with vehicles is visible in a painting where he puts an assortment of tranports ranging from the typical Hindustani Ambassador to trucks and buses, against the backdrop of an altar. “Lot of these vehicles such as the Hindustan Ambassador or the scooter is very iconic. It is sort of a literal translation,” he says adding that the image though not meant to be sacrilegious is sort of an altarpiece with vehicles replacing scenes from the stories of the Bible.
The artist blends western and eastern culture in another of his group painting 'Man standing on Rickshaw', not a very common scene one might encounter in Dhaka. The series is inspired by a photo of British- born photographer Evelyn Cameron, standing on a horse. Like Cameron, the unnamed rickshawala stands upright and rigidly on his three-wheeler; his green gamcha (scarf) waving lightly in the unseen breeze. Hartigh's interest about the fusion of cultures also appears in another series — Arcade games. He is fascinated by the typical Bangladeshi feature of the Arcade games which were very popular in the US in the 80s. The amateurish handmade structures made by local carpenters, similar to the other large paintings of the exhibition, come in three different colours.
Why call the exhibition Pop Wallah? Hartigh explains that he is struck with the idea of romantic consumerism that when you go somewhere you want to buy something. “Besides a lot of these colours are very reminiscent of pop art, “he says, adding that he is peddling out what people are looking for. Hartigh himself becomes the 'Pop Wallah' just like a 'Sabji wallah' (a grocer); selling a fusion of western and eastern culture to people who want to take with them a trinket from the 'other' land.
The exhibition that has started at the Bengal Art Lounge Gulshan on March 29, will go on till April 7, A Bangladeshi spectator would wonder at the icicles on the ever familiar rickshaws Jon Den Hartigh painted against red, yellow and green patterned background. However, once you get to know the traveller that manifest himself through Hartigh's paint-brushes, the icicles seem quite plausible.
The 44-year-old art teacher has been living in Bangladesh since 2011, teaching at the American International School Dhaka. His career has taken him to other countries in South Asia and Africa. Yet, following the footsteps of ordinary tourists, he too collects souvenirs, but in his own special way. “When you go to New York, you want to buy the statue of liberty, something to remember,” he says. This idea of collecting things from the 'other' place intrigues the artist. “I want to a take a CNG home, a rickshaw home. Many people do. I am sort of obsessed with this idea,” he admits.
Hartigh is fascinated by the various kinds of vehicles that ply the streets of Dhaka; especially those that are not too common in other countries. “Whenever a foreigner will come here, those are the things that they will notice about Dhaka,” he says adding that Bangladeshi rickshaws and CNGs are quite different from those that are found in India and Sri Lanka. “They are different here with the cages. They are different in every country,” he says. The flower patterns on the steel doors of the encaged CNGs in Dhaka's street thus do not escape Hartigh's eye, neither do the star shaped steel cover protecting the head light.
Unlike other foreign artists, Hartigh's focus is not on rickshaw art rather the vehicle as a whole. Yet the bright, loud colours used in rickshaw arts appear in the backgrounds of the paintings. “I love the pink ones. I love how they customise them,” he says. Except for the Mynah bird on the meshed wires, rickshaw is the dominant subject in most of Hartigh's painting, especially amongst the smaller ones. He believes that multiple images on the same subject provide him with the opportunity of improvement and further experimentation.
Hartigh's fascination with vehicles is visible in a painting where he puts an assortment of tranports ranging from the typical Hindustani Ambassador to trucks and buses, against the backdrop of an altar. “Lot of these vehicles such as the Hindustan Ambassador or the scooter is very iconic. It is sort of a literal translation,” he says adding that the image though not meant to be sacrilegious is sort of an altarpiece with vehicles replacing scenes from the stories of the Bible.
The artist blends western and eastern culture in another of his group painting 'Man standing on Rickshaw', not a very common scene one might encounter in Dhaka. The series is inspired by a photo of British- born photographer Evelyn Cameron, standing on a horse. Like Cameron, the unnamed rickshawala stands upright and rigidly on his three-wheeler; his green gamcha (scarf) waving lightly in the unseen breeze. Hartigh's interest about the fusion of cultures also appears in another series — Arcade games. He is fascinated by the typical Bangladeshi feature of the Arcade games which were very popular in the US in the 80s. The amateurish handmade structures made by local carpenters, similar to the other large paintings of the exhibition, come in three different colours.
Why call the exhibition Pop Wallah? Hartigh explains that he is struck with the idea of romantic consumerism that when you go somewhere you want to buy something. “Besides a lot of these colours are very reminiscent of pop art, “he says, adding that he is peddling out what people are looking for. Hartigh himself becomes the 'Pop Wallah' just like a 'Sabji wallah' (a grocer); selling a fusion of western and eastern culture to people who want to take with them a trinket from the 'other' land.
The exhibition that has started at the Bengal Art Lounge Gulshan on March 29, will go on till April 7, 2013, everyday from 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
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