BIHARI DHAMAKA / Bejod India: Kala Mangal series - Painting and Artwork exhibition organised by Deptt of Art & Culture, Bihar at Patna from 29.5.18 to 03.6.18

Ancient themes breathe in modern air

P1 / Sheela Kumari Singh / sheela_singh01@yahoo.com

The religion is predominant though it does not shun off the modernism. Both can co-exist and this is the only way out. We must move forward but must remember the beauty, profoundness and message of our culture that have evolved through thousands of years. When seven distinguished well-known artists of Bihar gather their brushes and fingers say this through their painting and artworks in Patna.

Sanjay Roy seems to be a virtuoso in modern art and his pictures express the feeling very softly in an abstract form. Colours have no role to play to his brush who delineates the feelings of a contemporary human beings facing a host of ghastly troubles at simultaneously. He confronts the time that is passing by his age and lives perfectly in present invigorating himself with the oxygen of aestheticism coming incessantly from his artistic contemporary mind.

Baby Archana seems to be in a phase of ideological transfusion. It is very difficult to say whether the parallel paths treaded by her brush is synchronous or denotes two absolutely different phases of her life. Whatever it may be the superb beauty of love in action by Radha Krishna and the appeal of affection by a little girl holding an infant in her arms with all motherly care adds to the grandeur of the exhibition. The expression of the feelings of an old woman who has no recourse but praying is marvelous.

Dinesh Kumar is also inclined deeply in holy themes rooted in Hinduism. Whether it is the duo of Radha-krishna or Goddess and king, what is remarkable is the make of faces are completely different from a stereotype ones. This drift is deliberate and the master artist puts forth the modern elements surreptitiously even while dealing with ancient themes in an ostensible manner. The message is clear, there is no problem if you embrace modernism in life-style you can still keep the glory up of your ancient past.

Gopal Krishna has a a typical style of human forms and again the faces of gods are different from that you find in the scriptures. He is an example of dynamism and melody in religious themes. Use of black colour profoundly as an essential ingredient of the background saves the pictures from being glitering where the fondness of colours of his brush is clearly visible,

Ramu Kumar has presented his artworks in the form of solid structures made of fibre glass. All of them are painted in dark brown and the shapes are weblike. The sphere as a fundamental element is noticeably open from above and having a closed base while the walls are containing many big holes of artistic shapes. A viewer who carefully examines these structure is bound to find his own shape of life in these plexus like solid artworks.

Surendra Lal Das 'Kaladarshi is again of a religious genre and sticks to quintessential sayings of the Holy Geeta. Each shloka is like a lamp and his picture shows this in a pretty manner. The sobriety of super-consciousness is maintained adhering to the main themes of shlokas.

Sheela Kumari Singh is also a pack of abstractness and concreteness. Buddha with lotuses in the pond with butterflies flying is a beautiful piece of her work. In other picture she presents a scenic beauty. The theme of this picture is very simple still the colour scheme attracts a viewer. An abstract picture which looks like a catastrophe with a human like face in right side and black clouds surrounding the frame is amazing.

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Review by - Hemant Das 'Him'

Photographs - Binay Kumar

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