Biography
For the 9th Sharjah Biennial Firoz Mahmud created an epic mixed media work titled Halycon Tarp (2009). Using the Royal Bengal tiger as a motif, separate components of the work revealed aspects of Bangladeshi history, culture and politics. The main wooden structure, shaped like a traditional Bangladeshi hut, was painted in green `Layapa` with two jumping tigers forming the entrance gate and appearing in different forms within the structure including in a looped documentary video, in photographic stills and as tiger ‘portraits’.
Mahmud’s work has been shown in solo exhibitions including at the Bandung Art Space, Bandung, Indonesia (2010), the Chinritsukan Gallery, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo (2010), the Bengal Art Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2010), OZU Space, Umane, Italy (2009) and a video project with Khulna Vision TV and Dhaka intercity bus service (2007). He has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions including the Aichi Triennale, Nagoya, Japan (2010), Sharjah Biennia (2009), Kunsthaus Tacheles, Berlin (2009), Rochester Contemporary Art Center, New York (2009), the Bangladesh Asian Art Biennial (2008, 2001, 1999), Cairo Art Biennale (2008) and the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial (2006).
After completing a BFA and MFA at the Institute of Fine Arts at Dhaka University, Bangladesh, Mahmud is a PhD candidate at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Japan. He was artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam in 2002-03 and at ISCP (International Studio and Curatorial Program) through the Asian Cultural Council in New York for 2010-11. Mahmud was born in 1974 in Khulna, Bangladesh and now lives and works between Dhaka and Tokyo.
October 2010
This person was part of Sharjah Biennial 9
