Tokon creates prolific artwork that is alive with energy and passion and one that leaves no doubt about its parentage. Parentage. His solo exhibition The Odyssey: Crossroads of Dreams and Memories, at Edge Gallery is truly a treat for viewers.
For the longest time, art has been a marriage of colours on paper or canvas. Whole worlds imagined by an artist can be visualised through masterful strokes of a brush. It is art that has the power to transcend boundaries and speak to the soul. Brushing aside differences such as language, location, culture and class, colours sing powerful melodies, expressing what words cannot. The creative medium at once inspires, challenges and delights, and artists use their brushes, or should we say, wield their wands, in unimaginable ways to create magic on paper. It is a world where artists like MD. Tokon spin entire odysseys of their lives, dreams and memories, and they own it with the innocence and humility that only art can provide.
Tokon was born in Jhenidah, Bangladesh, in a neighbourhood far from supportive of art in any form. His family, however, was all motivation. With their support, he realised his dream of becoming an artist. The prodigy was merely 10 years old when he produced his first painting.
The New York based artist enjoys working on large canvases and paper and his love for colours and the cities he has lived in shines through in his work. Rather than careful, deliberate strokes that give a painting obvious meaning, Tokon’s art leans towards gestural abstraction, or what is commonly known as action art. In this art form, an artist creates simple, yet mesmerising art, simply by dripping, splashing or smearing colours on canvas. The process follows an artist’s intuition, emotions and personal expression to create abstract pieces that look astounding but do not reveal their intent as obviously.
Of late, works produced by the young artist show more power and authority than his past exhibits, as if to show his evolution into a more succinct painter with a clear vision of what he must paint.
Far from being conventional, Tokon’s art can best be described as layered. The thin brush strokes, open composition and deliberate efforts to emphasise the depiction of light in its changing qualities are all heavily reminiscent of impressionism and his choice of vivid, expressive colours lends indescribable spirituality and mystery to his art. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Rabindranath Tagore and Mohammad Kibria, Tokon’s creativity spills forth onto the canvas in a variety of creative ways.
Of late, works produced by the young artist show more power and authority than his past exhibits, as if to show his evolution into a more succinct painter with a clear vision of what he must paint. Reflective of the works of the American Abstract Expressionists, of which he has been a member for almost 20 years, his art uses bold colours, sharp lines and free-handed strokes to display his prowess in, and understanding of- contemporary abstraction. Pregnant with Eastern and Western cultural influences, his work fits easily at any modern art museum.
His newest work, The Odyssey, is steeped in multiple tonalities that serve to make colours more complex, or simple, depending on the perspective of the viewer. It is a solo exhibition, showcasing Tokon’s work after 7 long years, and the pieces resonate with young and old contemporary art enthusiasts, students and the younger generation of painters and multidisciplinary artists in the city. Comprising 79 art pieces, the artworks chronicle his life from Jhenaidah to New York. The exhibition launched at the Edge Gallery on the 21st of January and will run until the 16th of February, 2023. For those who enjoy the interplay of colours, layers, and light this is an unmissable, immersive experience full of sensory stimuli and creative freedom.