Black Renaissance
In Farhana Akhter's " Side by Side" two distinct figures
almost merge into one within a dark, tactile mass of thick, shiny pigment. Although their features are non-existence
and all details is subordinated to texture, the painting nonetheless projects a powerful sense of the human presence.
- Peter Wiley, Gallery & Studio Magazine, April/May
2008
SantaFe Art World
“What
we see in Farhana’s work is the evolution of mind and the psyche as it continues
to survive in today’s society while faced with modern dilemmas of the political world. A feeling
of wanting to rise above the mundane and ill forces that affect us, a struggle for survival of the soul. A
separation from those elements that would hold us hostage to a world we wish to escape, to rise above.”
- Denise Ticer, Santa Fe ArtWorld, December, 2007
The Primacy
of the Gesture Energizes “Abstract 2007”
Farhana Akhter creates
a different sensation with luminous bursts of yellow color subtly mixed with other hues, radiating out from brilliant blue
grounds. A sense of natural events occurs in Akhter’s paintings, starburst or a nocturnal flower
opening expansively to envelope the viewer in a warm aura.
- Marie R. Pagano, Gallery & Studio Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007/ Jan 2008
WSAC Artists Explore
the Sense of “Touch”
The infinite
possibilities of pigment itself is the subject of Farhana Akhter’s “Color Series”, in which overall
compositions enlivened by scumbled textures, painterly palimpsests, scraped surfaces, and other evidence of process create
palpable excitement. Akhter’s commitment comes through in the depth and chromatic subtlety of her oils.
- Maureen Flynn, Gallery
& Studio, February/March 2006
Several Artists Explore the
Possibilities of Postmodern Abstraction
Farhana Akhter, creates wide open color field compositions that envelope the viewer
in soft chromatic auras akin to Jules Olitski’s shimmering veils of sprayed pigment. But, unlike Olitski, who once stated
that he would prefer “colors sprayed into air”, Akhter also provides the viewer a tactile “handle”,
with swirling textures that create a sensual tension between elusive atmospherics and palpable form.
- Byron Coleman, Gallery & Studio,
February/March 2006
“Green Dreams” Bring Beauty to the
West Side Scene
Farhana Akhter successfully combines pastoral evocativeness and geometric stringency in abstract
landscapes distinguished by luminous color and compositional precision, evoking a sense of vast vistas with impressive economy
of means.
- Marie R.
Pagano, Gallery & Studio, Nov.-Dec. 2004/Jan. 2005
A Mixed Bag of “ Revelations” at Broadway Mall
“ Muscular “
is a word often applied to abstract painting, yet nowhere does it seem more appropriate than in the acrylics and pastels of
Farhana Akhter, whose gnarled forms writhe in space with a kind of knotted energy. Akhter’s somewhat gritty color
sense adds further to the visceral quality of these compositions.
- Lawrence Downs, Gallery & Studio, Apr. - May 2004
Abstract 03: The Best and The Brightest
“ Farhana Akhter showed four variations
on the theme “Diffusion Phase” each with a similar composition but different color scheme. In each, colors
stream forth and intermingle like beams of braided light, suggesting a fugue-like musical composition transposed in ecstatic
visual terms.”
- Stuart Leslie Myers, Gallery
& Studio, February/March 2004
“The Blue Hour”
Celebrates an Evocative Hue
“Neo-symbolism seems to be the only term applicable to the paintings
of Farhana Akhter, who creates poetic compositions in which faces and figures emerge from somber grounds. In one of Akhter’s
most compelling pictures, female nudes are seen within bubbles floating mysteriously in space.”
- Robert Vigo, Gallery & Studio, Nov.-Dec.2003/Jan.
2004
