Najib Tareque's 8th solo exhibition: Why 'understand' art when you can enjoy it?

Does art always need a meaning? Artist Najib Tareque says no. In fact, he goes as far as to say that artworks don't have any meaning at all. 

"When you look at a poster, or perhaps an illustration from a book, if you remove the text, does the image have any meaning? In the realm of fine arts, art does not have any meaning," he said. "Whatever meaning you assign to it, that is its meaning."

Galleri Kaya on Friday, 3 February, inaugurated the 8th solo exhibition of Najib Tareque, featuring 67 of the artist's prints. All of the artworks had two things in common: even though the forms were recognisable, they had a surrealistic quality to them; and the only colour the artist used was black.    

"Basically images serve two purposes: they either tap into your knowledge and your life's experiences, or they show you something that you otherwise would not have seen. This is why you see a lot of illustrations in children's books," he said. "How many animals have you seen? Apart from cats and dogs, unless you have been to a zoo, you have not seen that many. But you know what a giraffe looks like, you know rhinoceroses, crocodiles and platypuses. In fact, you know animals from parts of the world you will never visit. But you know about them through art."

"In the words of Rabindranath Tagore, in order for one to observe art, you must first be a mute. When listening to music, if you are actively analysing its scale, composition, etc, you are not enjoying it. When watching a film, if you're only looking at the types of shots they used, you won't end up watching the film. The same goes for art. Instead of looking for what I have meant, you can just enjoy them," he added. 

However, his prints were not completely devoid of meaning as he would initially lead you to believe. The artist purposely included vagueness in his works to encourage one to tap into their psyche. His forms – which primarily resembled various birds, animals and people – were created in a way to make room for interpretation, almost like a Rorschach test. As a visitor, I interpreted a print as an image of a duck. However, someone else believed it to be a platypus. There was no definitive answer. 

Tareque credits his works to his curious mind, and his life experiences. Even though the artworks appeared to be part of a series, they were independent pieces of works.   

"Whenever I am creating an artwork, I never work under a particular theme. I rely on my perceptions and life experiences to guide me," he explained. "I am constantly reading books, newspapers, blogs, etc. I am watching movies. And when I am travelling, I observe the people around me, their cultures, etc. and all of these experiences go on to influence my artworks. Take for example the conversation I am having with you right now, I will remember your face, hair, and smile. It'll stay on my mind. And when I will be working on my next piece, these memories could very easily manifest into my work. I won't try to directly impose it on my art, but I will not deny it either."      

Tareque studied printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka. However, his career was not a linear path. He distanced himself from the art world and chose to work as a journalist. He served as the Chief Artist at Daily Jugantor from 1999 to 2001, and Daily Janakantha from 2002 to 2004. He also worked with Ekushey Television from 2001 to 2003. From 2004 to 2011, he worked as the Brand Marketing Consultant for Standard Chartered Bank Limited in Dhaka. 

"I distanced myself from the art world; I felt uncomfortable fitting into the structure of the local art scene. But I never stopped practising," said Tareque. "Why do we work? To earn a living and to build a career. But just like how I distanced myself from the art world, I did not want to build a career anywhere else either. I want to live free and enjoy life." 

Tareque aspired to build a home for his family, where he would also have a studio, and occasionally exhibit his works. This dream became a reality In 2015; he took an initiative to create an artists hub and launched his gallery Studio 6/6 at Mohammadpur, Dhaka. The studio has hosted several exhibitions, workshops, and events.

Despite being a student of printmaking, Tareque is best known for his New Media works. This is his first show where he is exclusively exhibiting his prints. His show is open to all, from 11:30 AM to 7:30 PM, everyday, until 14 February.  

TBS picks: A selection of artworks from the show with a description from the artist 

Untitled-18. Relief Process. 2022

I did a drawing of this sometime during 1989 or 1990. I was going through a surrealistic phase, and I drew a lot of birds at the time. Images were coming to my mind and I was continuously drawing. When I was creating the blocks to print for this show, I went through old sketchbooks and recreated some of them. 

Untitled-5. Relief Process. 2019

We had a cat named Mushi. Mushi had 17 other cats that she cared for, six of them were her kittens, the rest were adopted. I created a drawing of her probably sometime around 2016 or 2017, which I later turned into a print.  

Untitled-27. Relief Process. 2022

This came to me after I had a deep conversation at a hangout with a former colleague. We discussed our corporate life and the present corporate situation. We spoke about our problems etc. This work did not have a previous drawing, it came while I was preparing my plates.