Tanvir Parvez’s third solo exhibition reflects on mind and perception
The third solo exhibition of Bangladeshi visual artist Tanvir Parvez opened on March 13 at Kala Kendra in Lalmatia, Dhaka, presenting a body of work that reflects on perception, cognition and the human search for meaning. Titled “Upatto / Akankha / Porom” (Data / Desire / Divinity), the month-long exhibition will continue until April 11 and remains open to the public each evening from 4 pm to 8 pm.
The exhibition brings together 21 digital prints and three multimedia installations developed through image manipulation. Drawing from natural elements, urban structures and everyday objects, the works present high-contrast visual compositions that encourage prolonged observation. The installations incorporate projection and sound, creating an immersive environment in which perception becomes central to the viewing experience.
Parvez’s work engages with the concept of pareidolia, the psychological tendency to identify familiar forms within ambiguous or unstructured data. In his own reflection on the exhibition, the artist describes his practice as an effort to develop a new artistic language through the convergence of technology and philosophy. His interest lies in how the human mind organises visual information and assigns meaning, often in response to uncertainty.
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This line of inquiry has informed his artistic process for more than a decade. Since around 2015, Parvez has explored image construction as a way of examining how perception operates under shifting conditions. The influence of personal experience is present in this trajectory, particularly his observation of altered perception during his mother’s illness. That period introduced a heightened awareness of multiple, overlapping interpretations of reality, which continues to shape his work.
The exhibition’s title reflects a conceptual progression. It begins with data as raw visual input, moves towards desire as the impulse to interpret, and arrives at a more abstract notion of the transcendent. Parvez has also described this interpretive process as a search for cognitive stability, where the mind attempts to create coherence from fragmented information.
At the opening event, speakers including Professor Abul Monsur, artist Monirul Islam and artist Dhali Al Mamun addressed the significance of the exhibition within contemporary Bangladeshi art practice. A subsequent discussion session, held on March 28, featured artist Javed Jalil and architect Salauddin Ahmed, with the artist himself moderating the conversation. The discussion focused on the relationship between contemporary art, technological mediation and philosophical inquiry.
During this session, Jalil noted that the visual language of the exhibition invites viewers into an active process of interpretation. The absence of fixed forms encourages the viewer to engage with the work through personal perception. This process reveals as much about the viewer’s own expectations as it does about the image itself, as the mind continuously attempts to organise unfamiliar visual information.
Born in Chandpur in 1972, Tanvir Parvez studied at the University of Chittagong, where he completed both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Fine Arts. His earlier exhibitions include the two-person show Space-Specific Art at Zainul Gallery in 2000 and the solo exhibition Discourse on Flight and Fall at Kala Kendra in 2023. The current exhibition represents a continuation of his engagement with space, perception and the conditions of viewing, with a stronger emphasis on psychological processes. Perception becomes a subject of inquiry rather than a passive act, and the viewer becomes an essential participant in the formation of meaning.
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