S.H.Raza inaugurates Contemporary Art Exhibition

[Contemporary]

from a palace...
On the eve of 50th year celebration of Indira Kala Sangeet
Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, Chhattishgarh, India ,53 artists from
visual art faculty who were studied their Fine Art from this oldest
Indian Art Institution has displayed their exceptional works at
Rabindra Bhawan Galleries II & III ,World renowned eminent master S. H
Raza and Eminent Indian Poet/Art Critic/Writer Sh Ashok Vajpeyi has
inaugurated the show When you walk through the gallery, you will find
Ajay Kumar Mall has worked on the speed and intensity of his brushwork
to create abstract oils on canvas while the 'Green Landscape' by Hukum
Lal Verma displays a celebration of colour and line. Elements from the
landscape begin to disintegrate with its remnants in the title.
Spontaneity of working in the outdoors brings about the need for speed
with the application and the inevitable breakup of the form. In the
lucid watercolours of the landscape by Anil Khobragare, transparent
pigments look for spaces to hold on to the paper in a play of flow and
merge in the painting process. Struggle for space and control comes
forth in the acrylics of Devasis Mukherjee, as the birds seem to find
a way to synchronize rhythms of existence among themselves. Girja
Kumar Nirmalker delineates and engages pigments in indicating abstract
spaces within composition while landscape remains in the hidden strata
of the painting. Jiten Sahu works on constructing the urban landscape
in a series of buildup activity across the canvas. Freedom of the
display of brushwork remains in the periphery of the constructed
space. Looking for purity of colour in the abstract, mixed media works
of Mahesh Sharma engages in not looking for the definite and the
orderly, rather the build up of pigment forms the base for developing
the work.

Fleeting moments manages to manifest in the abstracts of Yogendra
Tripati in a residual of earth colours that play every so light on the
canvas. Elements from the landscape remain in the works of Manish
Verma with an alluring content for transition into the abstract.
Retaining colours of the earth, the acrylic works modulate to the
circumstances. Shubra Chand also works on this transition with
layering of pigments. Fields of colour are set against each other in
the work of Prabir Kumar Dalai. The formations allow for brilliance in
colour to make representations across the fields. Using dry pastel on
paper Rajesh Mishra indicates flowing lines of the dancers in an
attempt to capture the moment of action in 'Khairagarh'. In the rush
for existence, evasion of death seems to be the moment of realization
in the work of Sukant Dev Burman. Futility in the exercise seems to be
the prediction of a parrot in contemplation while a dove tries to
stabilize the present. Destiny in the hands of the richness of
environment is taunting enough to be in the outdoors, away from
comforts of the home in the painting of Sunita Verma. Symbolic in
representation, the chair makes up for the absence of the household.

Relishing in the possibilities of transformation, the chance for a new
world that could take one into the imaginable, the harmless soldier
stands in readiness in the fusion of the real and the unreal in the
work of Adhikalp Yadu. In similar terrain, Anup kumar Chand looks for
transformations in the chance for that change in reality of a
consistent regularity in the environment. Anant kumar Sahu ponders
over the world order in the etching 'After Third Worldwar'. Frailty of
lines in the etching drives home the situation in such an event.
Aspirations in the form of a flower come in the etching by Khemlata
Dewangan in 'Dream Flower'. The jaded sunflower looks up to the
challenge in the present set of circumstances as the individual is
caught in a vortex of the dream. In the dreaminess of the landscape,
the painting by Malay Jain allows for another side of the landscape,
not necessarily in the real. 'Soldiers after a War' by Mahesh R.
Prajapati repeats the introspection of the individual caught in the
cacophony of war. Etching and serigraphy allows for fields of hard,
opaque colour in combination with sensitivity of the line.

Symbolic and the representational find its place in the prints of
Rakesh Bani. The beast has its ways of instilling fear and control
over frailty of the mind. With a limited use of colour, the work gets
accentuated in its scope of an expanding vision. Spatial play gets
mingled with the symbolic in the work of Tikendra Kumar Sahu with dog
days open throughout the year to make a livelihood for comfort as
Sharad Kumar Kawre explores the representational through the digital
medium of printmaking. Sheikh Hifzul makes use of transformation of
imagery in the 'Kiss-III'. Decorative elements and motifs adorn the
masculine and the feminine in an intimate moment of the imaginary. Use
of adornment continues in the work of Sankar Sarkar in 'Gold Show'.
Looking for an intervention into the consumerist pattern of the
present day, the subject is laden with showpieces that have questions
on its origins. In an intervention for a social cause, 'Last drop" by
Sajal Patra makes a statement about non-availability of a basic
necessity for sustenance. 'Camel' by Ravi Kant Jha extends the
possibility of tranformation of the subject for relating to a thought,
in this case being a performance. An untitiled etching print by Rabi
Narayan Gupta captures a vivid cacophony of imagery of torment.
There's a search for redemption in the midst of such chaos and
vulnerability. In the midst of these works is a painting by Ritesh
Meshram that allows a seemingly innocent play of line and colour.

'Five Friends in B.F.A', an Etching by Mukti Agarwal is open to
interpretation as a set of 5 birds gaze in extreme numbness. The
quality of printmaking comes through in the work of Priyanka Waghela
under an overlay of acrylic paint. Floatation of the subject plays
with a compositional necessity of the work. Amar Jyoti Sarma plays a
'Mind Game' with a set of coffee cups set against an individual in
contemplation. Spatial play with the cups sets a sense of intrigue to
the painting while the mask of a clown against a series of stairs in
the work of Dharam Beer Kumar allows for interplay of meaning. A
stylized cow is represented in all its readiness for a charming
display along its path in a painting by Hareream Das. A sense of
freedom and pursuit is seen embellished in the Bronze sculpture by
Rajesh Sharma and Kishore Kumar Sharma.

This physical show will be on vew


at: Rabindra Bhawan Gallery, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi, India till
22nd of January , 2008 and it will continue till 15th of February 2008
at Ashok Art Gallery.

Contemporary Art Exhibition Review : Ashok Art Gallery
http://www.ashokartgallery.com
Photographs: http://ashokartgallery.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/exhibition_inauguration.jpg

[Pratap Bhanja]

Good going dear. Excellent.

Best wishes from my side.