Bangladeshi creative impressionist artist and painter Mahfuzur Rahman has recently been positioned as one of the semifinalists in the “Artist of The Year” art competition, organized by the United Kingdom-based art organization The Artist Lounge.

His painting, titled "Ancestors", secured him this prestigious position at the first-ever edition of this competition and the artwork is now being exhibited in the virtual exhibition.

The competition called for artists worldwide, from June to July 2021, to share their best creations, offering 14 awards with artworks being entered in 12 different categories.

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“We are absolutely delighted with the overwhelming number and quality of entries - the standard was outstanding (with applications from 26 different countries) and it certainly made it very hard for our curators to shortlist the artworks moving forward to the next phase,” the organization stated about the competition.

Based in Dhaka, Bangladesh and currently residing in Dubai, UAE, artist Mahfuzur Rahman shared his feelings and excitement over this achievement to UNB.

“By the grace of almighty Allah SWT and the kind prayers of my family and dear ones, my painting "Ancestors" took place in the Semi-Final at "Artist of the Year" contest arranged by "The Art Lounge, UK" and this selected painting is currently exhibiting online for the global art admirers. My sincere gratitude goes to all of our family members, friends and team Obscure (an independent artistic group, initiated by Rahman himself). It’s an honour and also an opportunity for me to represent the country,” he said to UNB.

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A Master in Business Administration graduate who is currently working as a corporate finance professional in a reputed multinational company, as well as pursuing his dream in painting as an emerging Bangladeshi impressionist artist, Mahfuzur Rahman believes that passion is the key behind his success.

“To me, I believe passion is the energy that comes from bringing more of you into what you do. I have always been searching passionately, to explore my creativity. Colours and their blends in all forms has been something that I have ardently loved since a very young age,” he added.

Describing his crafts, Rahman said, “I think of my installations as unfinished inventories of fragments: objects, drawings, paintings, photographs, and other inventions. They are improvisational sites in which the constructed and the readymade are used to question our making of the world through language and knowledge. My arrangements are schematic, inviting the viewer to move into a space of speculation - and I rely on our desires for beauty, poetics and seduction.”

“Despite being a full-time corporate, this is the pleasure I receive from creating art that inspires me as an artist. I produce art to express an image of impressionism form but with my own artistic style. In each work of art, my intent is to depict compositions with lifelike details and qualities,” Rahman told UNB.

Aside from this achievement, Mahfuzur Rahman has placed the runner-up position at the California-based 40th Artavita Art Contest (online) in 2020; achieved the “Artist Value Certification” by the Artmajeur Art Gallery, France; and has been featured in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region’s famous art magazine Magzoid’s May 2021 edition, in recent times.

He has also participated in more than 20 solo and group art exhibitions in eight countries, including multiple national and international exhibitions at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA), Art Basel international art fair in Miami, US, and several other online and offline exhibitions in Asia, Middle East, Europe and the United States.

Art enthusiasts can visit the “Artist of The Year” exhibition at https://www.theartistlounge.org/artistoftheyear-onlineexhibition. To know more about Mahfuzur Rahman and his works, enthusiasts can Google his website or hit him up over at Instagram: @mahfuz_canvasart.

The announcement of finalists in the competition will be notified to the contestants on September 15th, and all semifinalist artworks will be featured in The Artist Lounge’s Art Magazine, 2nd Edition (online and printed versions), to be released in October.