ART - Deccan Herald

ART

Art on tandem
Visual art is first and = foremost=20 a visual experience, in the process, acknowledging that the = exhibiting=20 factors impinge on the status of an artwork. Hence, it is = necessary that=20 the display aspect in an art exhibition should be given paramount=20 importance.

The show titled =91Mindscape=92 at the = Chitrakala Parishath=20 (4th to the 10th of January), unfortunately depicts an unguarded = poise in=20 this aspect, in consequence to the amateur display of the various = art=20 works.

The show is cluttered with crafts/skills and = artistic=20 endeavours by artists from Kolkata, a few of whom have worked at = the=20 studios in the Valley School, Bangalore. Others include artworks = by=20 Shivanand, Ravi Shah and K T Shiva Prasad from Karnataka, all = displayed=20 incongruously together.

Conceptually, the show displays no=20 preferences and no ideologies. It highlights the need for a proper = curatorial genre, engaging the artists, art persons and viewers in = an=20 understanding that the lack of exhibitional proficiency dents the=20 performance of art forms and ideas.

However, individually, = some=20 works do succeed in fuelling an interest. Two paintings by = Shivanand are=20 interesting as they play with elements of balance and equilibrium = against=20 the earth=92s gravitational force on the two-dimensional surface = of a=20 painting. There is quirkiness in the shadow supporting the form, = steering=20 a balance into the painting.

The other art works include = paintings,=20 prints, ceramic artifacts and wooden sculptures by various = artists. Also=20 an installation work by K T Shiva Prasad, a door which =91locks=92 = bad=20 memories, calling the viewer to participate.

Swapan Jana = and Mukta=20 Dey=92s well-crafted ceramic artifacts and tea-sets consume a lot = of space=20 perplexing not only the display in the gallery but also the = =91sorts=92 of art=20 in a single show.

Shanta Roy, a graphic artist, uses the = recurrent=20 form of an owl in her conventionally executed artist prints; and = Saumya=20 Kanti Mukhopadhyay speaks of relationships, mythology and our = social=20 environment in his brightly coloured paintings.

Along with = Jaganath=20 Sarkar=92s well-rendered water colour works are Apurba Biswas = paintings in=20 the next hall, which portray a strong kitsch element in the = simplified=20 village women he paints.

Ravi Shah=92s wooden sculptures = demonstrate=20 the greatest strength. The still figures with an =91axe effect,=92 = build up=20 suspense amidst the drama of the different art works around. These = figures=20 speak as the mysterious and their deep contemplative forms evolve = from a=20 background as they suggest a hope or hopelessness, questioning the = will to=20 continue, to exist. Ravi Shah=92s works express in their posture a = need to=20 be persuaded to be present in a surrounding familiarity. =

The show=20 performs as a critique to the excessive existence of conventional = forms of=20 fine art, kitsch art, craft and installation together on the same = platform=20 spelling out a need to reflect on the present-day art genre and = its=20 display.
NIRALI = LAL

Man-flower
The=20 painted road of Ajesh Kumar S delighted a few years ago having = connected=20 in a warm manner with the people of the small, lower middle class = locality=20 and their houses.

His latest venture, however, seemed to = combine=20 sincerity and a greater, but more cerebral, ambition without = translating=20 into an expressiveness that could carry the intended meaning. =

=93A=20 bouquet for you dedicated to all flower lovers=94 (Jan 2) in fact = consisted=20 of contradictions. Intended as a protest against plucking flowers, = it was=20 announced as a site-specific installation, whereas actually it = functioned=20 as a performance.
The artist painted red to represent a = blossom, lay=20 motionless, as though dead, in a glass coffin in an open tempo = which=20 stopped on many city roads, while a group of his friends explained = things=20 to onlookers.

Whilst the sight as such was spectacular and = stunning enough to draw attention and disturb, its significance = could not=20 come through on its own, the latter being essential in any = artistic=20 endeavour.

Without a visually suggestive clue the work = could have=20 been interpreted in a number of ways, for instance, the crimson = colour=20 taken for blood or pain. There was no aesthetic stimulus to let = one=20 associate the glass with plastic wrapping in bouquets. The green=20 surrounding the main image was not even a real vegetation hue to = be able=20 to help here. Art has to lead the viewer, at least towards an = orientation=20 of meaning instead to depending on verbal=20 explications.

Vibrancy
The most recent = project at=20 Nirmal=92s (Jan 19 to 30) brought much viewing pleasure, once = again offering=20 an insight into the excitements and the creative potential of = children. As=20 usually, the results were guaranteed by the organisers=92 capacity = to make=20 interesting, well chosen techniques and materials stimulate young=20 imagination and enable their enjoyment.

The colourful = ball-pen=20 drawings of =93Birds and Beasts=94 relied on contoured silhouettes = and largely=20 parallel, linear modelling.

This means by itself induced a = certain=20 flatness and a rigidity of pattern, nevertheless quite a few = children=20 could loosen it up and imbue their pictures with poetic vibrancy. = That=20 quality dominated the delightful and fascinating sculptures in = painted=20 thermacol which had a joyous liveliness and=20 dynamism.

Naturally
The six =91fotofolks=92 = of the=20 =93Kaleidoscope=94 exhibition (CP, Jan 5 to 9) are amateur = photographers who=20 approach their hobby without either the forced aesthetic ambitions = of=20 professional artists or the prevailing conventionality of lensmen = catering=20 to the media and commercialism. Consequently, their images often = have a=20 fairly natural character.

This results on the one hand in = a=20 general unassuming lightness, on the other hand yet, making them = dependent=20 on a number of well-known, classic choices of themes and ways of = composing=20 those.

Thus, the prints of Kommini Krishna Mohan, Ramesh=20 Venkataraman, Sheetal Kumar, Kenneth Menezies, Kimiko Thakur = Menezies and=20 Harish Shanthakumar mostly oscillate between the pleasant and the=20 occasional subtle or striking. The rarely achieved original = effect, like=20 the blurred, bright fish in a densely intertwined dynamism, owes = perhaps=20 more to chance that a conscious, formal=20 decision.

Kolkatan
=91Colour=92, the painting = exhibition=20 by three young Kolkata artists (KCP, December 28 to January 3), = was yet=20 another example of that city=92s Government College of Art and = Craft. It=20 bore the stamp of its good but old-fashioned academic training = combined=20 with the conventionality of aesthetic and subject options adopted, = as its=20 appears, for the sake of saleability on the middling = level.

And so,=20 Bapan Kumar Dutta, Shubhashis Mandal and Subir Dey had a = predictable gamut=20 of landscapes, city vistas, carved temples and boats on rippling = water=20 contributing hardly distinguishable variants of over-familiar = clich=E9s.=20 Whether colonial-time-sepia-hued, blurring and bleeding under mist = or=20 throbbing in light and shadow contrasts, the pictures were more of = exercises in indulging the easy viewer than anything attempting = creative=20 expression.

Literal
The tribute to Kuvempu show = by=20 students of the University College of Fine Art, Davangere = (Venkatappa Art=20 Gallery, Dec 3 to 5) was a token-like one and of little inner = cogency. The=20 posters on the poet were an obvious and often wooden gesture,=20 stereotypical portraits co-existing there with vaguely evocative = imagery=20 and words. The presentation of the school work, including the = applied=20 arts, could not impress, since it proved the prevalence of dated = styles=20 not even justified by technical finesse.

MARTA=20 = JAKIMOWICZ