02 : Note from Studio Shantiniketan, Bolpur./ Artist : Ramu Das

The concept and the subjects of my works, with the treatment, talk all about the vocabulary of my works. While the basic concept is to depict the conflicting characters of human life, the subjects range from personal sexuality to a broader ground of socio-political problems. On one hand my works are imaginary, dramatic and distinctive; on the other hand they are strongly Surrealist in character and bear other specific art historical references. The basic concept of my works depends on my observation of the world, molded through my imagination. In other words, my works may be called solely individualistic. 

Artist : Ramu Das

Human figures in various actions and gestures are the main element in my paintings. Often, relating to the subject the figures are given very specific expressions. Also the figures are rendered to be very unattractive and grotesque in appearance. Most of the characters (both male and female) are imperfectly huge and muscular. They have thick lips, large puffy eyes and often bear peculiar expressions. I avoid the perfect rendering of the human bodies which automatically creates a distraction from a sexual provocation. I like to leave it to the beholders to think over it and feel the absence of the perfect beauty so that their urge for the perfect beauty move their minds. This is my intention to play with the beholders’ psychology. A supposed smooth and palpable skin of a nude woman is being replaced by a rough textured snake-like surface. All these somewhere disturbs the erotic fantasy and contradicts the viewers’ urge to see the perfect beauty. 

While growing as an artist, it is quite natural for the art works to go through an evolution in terms of both concept and content. There are lots of pictorial elements that have been added or deducted from my paintings in the course of changing time. Experiences of moving to different places have highly inspired me to shape up the body of my works. Nature and natural elements have been an integral part of my works throughout. Human figures, mostly grotesque and distorted, are placed within the natural space. Conch, cowry shells and recently beehives have become major symbolic features of my works. These are the elements that build up the body of my works and changes occur through the continous journey of my life. Apart from that there are many reflections of some of my very personal thoughts that come from my daily observations. I often come up with a scene, revealing some story about an individual or a group of people, stating them in an environment. I like to unveil the story quite dramatically with an expressive rendering of colour-play, finishing and appearances/expressions of the characters. Apart from that there are many reflections of some of my very personal thoughts that come from my daily observations. I often come up with a scene, revealing some story about an individual or a group of people, stating them in an environment. I like to unveil the story quite dramatically with an expressive rendering of colour-play, finishing and appearances/expressions of the characters.

My colour palette is quite strong. I use brilliant range of colours and juxtapose them to create vibrancy corresponding to the subjects of my paintings. I always want to create a certain contrast between contradictory elements and I do it by combining strong colours. My palette appears very strident and it may often resemble to be quite expressionistic yet the final rendering surely has reference of the Renaissance paintings. The smooth finishing, delicacy of the draperies, use of chiaroscuro and subtle highlights on the human figures are derived from by understanding of the classical painting, resulting as my own spontaneous interpretation.

I like to work in a way evaded from directness. There are more than a few layers in my works in terms of subject and concept. My main intention is to criticize and highlight various nuances of our society. I have extensively painted subjects like sexual biases, class struggle, and terrorism etc. I handle these concepts with a very political or sometime with a spiritual angle. I use various metaphors and symbols to convey my thought while articulation. The metaphors I use are created with my personal vision and interpretation from various experiences of life. Dealing with concepts like ‘Man and woman relationship’ I have used various metaphoric elements like snails, cowry shells and conch symbolizing the female sexuality and elements like tiger as male. There are references in my work criticizing the male dominance over females by showing a tiger, sharply gazing towards a woman. Tree has become a symbol of femininity as its process of creation resembles to the women’s’ power of giving birth.  Side pillow, another object of the interior has been shown repeatedly as a phallic symbol. There are a few subjects that I have dealt with a spiritual angle, using religious symbols (swastika symbol or a man seated like Buddha) against terrifying objects to generate good hope and positivity against fear. Apart from this, I have been capturing changing personality or mood of different people by showing characters with multiple heads. Dramatic combination of different expressions of joy and dismay of those multiple faces upon a single body, suggests the journey of that person throughout different phase of his life. My works are highly metaphoric and constantly connote a conflict between different aspects of human life. Contrasts and contradictions between different things like sexuality and gender biases, war and peace, brutalities of urbanization are symbolically depicted in my works.

by

Art Blogazine Team

Bombay

Tathi Premchand

01: Note from Studio Shantiniketan, Bolpur. / Artist : Ghanashyam Latua

Mainly my art practice is based on physical environment and its conflict with the artificial environment. The physical environment consists with the living and non-living components. Unfortunately, the natural environment has been under tremendous threat due to never ending human greed. The lands are mindlessly being excoriated by us through agonizing mechanical process. The poignant saga regarding the issues of land acquisition, environmental and migrant crisis and modern age slavery comes into my mind as myself being a locale from a suburban area.

Artist : Ghanashyam Latua

I am currently working with a long and time consuming method of creating layers like formation of a land for many years. It continues then by pecking and skinning the paper with a sharp tool, which defines the violence towards it due to human interference to acquire resources for industrial and ‘developmental’ purposes.

The skin of the paper is the metaphor of the land to me and the method of pecking represents the human rapacity in form of the encroaching land. Before pecking, I use to do some treatment on the paper. It might be an application of water colour tint, soft pastel, charcoal, pen strokes or might be left the paper un-treated as it is. 

I have been constantly encountering the changing features of these landscapes from my childhood at my ancestral village near Kharagpur, Jhargram and during my student life at Shantiniketan, Bolpur. I have explored the spiritual affinity and relationship between the man and nature through my works. It questions the burning social issues like encroaching and land grabbing, which changes the whole ecology of a landscape and the people depending upon it. The endless human greed has lead towards a socio-political disharmony due to misinterpretations of modernism.

In that sense my works are empathic reaction towards these issues as we are constantly being enslaved by our own greed and ecstasy of power in a capitalist society. By getting divorced from the nature day by day, we have murdered our own divine and spiritual self.

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by

Art Blogazine Team

Bombay

Tathi Premchand

Pin Poster : Kolkata Ink

Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) is the capital of India's West Bengal state. Founded as an East India Company trading post, it was India's capital under the British Raj from 1773–1911. Today it’s known for its grand colonial architecture, art galleries and cultural festivals. It’s also home to Mother House, headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa, whose tomb is on site.

Knowningness - Presence of unknown within known, Nippon Art Gallery

Harshda Nirgun, an alumni of J.J. Schools of Fine Arts is conducting a solo Exhibition at Nippon Art Gallery, near Kala Ghada, Mumbai from 10th to 15th December 2019. The exhibition is free for entry and is based on experiences of life, natural harmony, womanhood and growth of society .The artist aspires to increase awareness and maximum inclusion of people from different age group to experience, understand and spread the message.

My artwork captures glimpses of the current state we live in, the visuals that I believe to shake us to our core and awaken our restrained emotions. It’s linked with my life experiences and my identity in our society.

Artist : Harshda Sadanand Nirgun

When I am in the process of creation I tune with my inner self, work with my intuitions, everything in my surroundings gets blurred and I just deep dive with myself, add colour to my feelings and express it,  its not always planned,  it just happens. My artwork is similar to an onion, layers upon layers covering the inner emotions. My efforts are to express everything I see, the myriad waves that I feel and try to collate them in my artworks. At times I also detach from myself and observe it as a third person, it kind of makes you think and new perspectives and answers just reach out to me.

Being an Artist one doesn't have to perform any kind of stunts it should be your experiences, feelings and your way of expression. It doesn't have to be in particular way or adulterated with outer manifestations. It has to be open and free of any glass ceilings and limitations.

Other mind jolting work is my Street art for Kalaghoda installation based on Corruption. I have installed a life size match box, with sides made of currency bundle. There is only one stick standing symbolic of an individual’s fight while Inside of the matchbox are burned sticks that came in contact and burned due to the friction of the never ending greed of “human want”. This artwork was inspired from a real-life event in my kitchen which I  related with the corruption and greed in the society.

My other works are related to human relations from women’s perspective. Women is the giver of life and it’s linking with mother earth. How in the name of progress we are disturbing the natural balance of other animals and birds and destroying the beautiful nature in our surroundings.

Regarding my current solo exhibition in Mumbai

The very existence of any particular thing, living or non-living, is in its existence within that time, it’s the momentariness, the fleeting moment that lets us glance the substance of life. The interrelated expression, the flash realisation, the static imprints. It’s outer conditions and surging inner situation merged in the state of trance, that evolve out of it. Unspecific certainty with its own grace  without any external force acting on it.

There is an outer shield, which hides the core idea engrossed in captivated experiences. Nothing to oppose, nothing to support, as it cannot be shared or explained. Those endless stories, travel, brief moments, that eagerness and its volume can only be felt.

My artwork captures these glimpses of the current state we live in, the visuals that I believe to shake us to our core and awaken our restrained emotions. It's linked with my life experiences and my identity in our society. 

Few more of my works in the current exhibition:

v Living Halt:

An interactive installation where you can actually stand amidst the scaffolds and experience a Halt at a construction site. Architecture has a life too, it’s state continually changes as it endures external elements and requires routine maintenance just as our skin.

v Parallel I:

Three adjoining spheres depict parallel memories of past, present, and future. Living and breathing without knowing each other like insects crawling in their own little world, unknown of the nearby worlds but connected in space.

v Parallel ll:

Play of shadows, objects with multiple overlaps, changing their forms with moving light source with passing of time.

v Under construction Bride:

Photograph of myself in a green construction cloth as saree, keeping Indian 'Ghoongat', it's new development in progress on old roots, progressing ahead and restructuring for better future.

v Inside out:

A glasswork displayed with metallic Lotus. To know yourself inside-out the blissful inner core and the flow of energy within, transforming and evolving through different experiences.

v Reality Check:

A rusted Lotus symbolizing the transition period of a city from old to the present progressive state leaving it's murky scent behind as it transforms.

v Esteem:

The composition consists of construction worker’s hands signifying hardship that goes into making others dreams a reality and keeping their younger generation alive.

v Dream Home:

Creation of personal-space to dwell is a structuring of our own physical and mental space. 

v Noise:

A visual noise of construction and continuous reengineering of the surrounding that overlaps and blocks the tranquil chirp of a ‘City bird’

v Reach:

Constant human interference effects the navigation of migratory and local birds. They get stressed and disturbed by heavy noise pollution created in the city area. A composition with the mating call of Cuckoo bird is suppressed by cement mixture machines and road roller.

No one teaches you art it comes from within though I am an academic Masters  in fine arts from Mumbai. I have always found different ways and mediums to  experiment and express my work. Looking forward to inspire young minds to respect mother earth, women, expand their thoughts beyond the horizon and include everyone in their growth.

Nippon Gallery

Deval Chambers 30/32

2nd Floor, Flora Fountain

Nanabhai Lane, Kala Ghoda

Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001