page_title: Mubinul Azim
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Mubinul Azim / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: (From left): Justice Feroze Nana, commentator Aslam Azhar, Mubinul Azim and Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin at the opening ceremony of Mubinul Azim's exhibition in Karachi in 1968.
context_page_description: Mubinul Azim was a Bangladeshi painter who is considered a pioneer in the fine arts scene. He is one of the foremost artists from Bangladesh and a student of Zainul Abedin. He naturally drew inspiration from his own surroundings. His first duo show was held in 1961 followed by 17 solo exhibitions and 37 group exhibitions in Pakistan, Bangladesh and different countries of the world. Out of his 54 painting exhibitions, only 14 took place in Bangladesh. He received awards at the Annual Exhibition of Paintings by Karachi Artists, Arts Council, Karachi, Pakistan in 1963, 1964 and 1967.
  Azim died at Dhaka, when he was at the peak of his artistic career. After his death, two exhibitions of his works were held at Dhaka Club and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. The Bangladesh Government holding a world class painting of a renowned Artist as symbol of honor at Sonali Bank Branch in London, UK and one of his masterpiece in the Bangladesh National Museum. On 20 February 2012, Azim was posthumously awarded the most honorable National Award by the government of Bangladesh for his contribution in the field of fine arts and his involvement through his paintings during the Language Movement in 1952.
context_section_description: Azim worked as a teacher at the Alliance Francaise Karachi, Pakistan. He was also a lecturer at Pak-American Centre, Karachi, Pakistan and Teacher's Training College, Dhaka, Bangladesh. From the early '50s to the '60s, Azim and few painters introduced many forms of modern, abstract, abstract-impressionist and abstract-expressionist art. Their works had an enriching influence on other emerging painters as well. Azim set out as a naturist and figurative painter. In the early stages of his career, nature was the focus of his works. Along with natural elements, the colour was a predominant aspect of his works. The treatment of colour and the composition was exceptional. An interaction between use of space and objects always carried an aesthetic trademark in his works. Still, his paintings, with their unique lucid qualities, have lost none of their appeals. His canvases are marked with pigment and fluidity. He always used a limited number of elements in his canvas. Sometimes his works seem to convey the feeling of solitude. During a certain phase of his career, he focused on boats. He drew forms of boats that resembled the impression of a new moon or crescent. He strived to maintain a good balance between colour and forms. The interplay of darkness and light was another significant characteristic of his works. He continued his quest for novel and fresh elements in his paintings. He took to using oil paints in a style reminiscent of action painting — quite akin to the works of Jackson Pollock. Azim was brilliant in designs and texture. His compositions assumed an expressionistic look as red, blue and other bold colours began dominating his canvas. He produced many paintings, watercolours and sketches in the course of his short career span.
caption: Azim (2nd from right) at his exhibition in Karachi (1968)
exif: {"Image Artist": "Creative3", "Image ExifOffset": "2132", "Image XPAuthor": "Creative3", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:10:31 20:44:25", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:10:31 20:44:25", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "86", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "86", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}