For those looking to make a good investment in the near future, here is an opportunity to venture in art. Besides the aesthetic appeal it brings to a space, it is an endowment in an artist’s labour. July Lights, featuring paintings by Ashok Bhowmick, Asit Kumar Patnaik and H.R. Das, attempts to reinforce this idea. The show, presented by Gallery G and The Taj West End in association with the Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai, is a precursor to the Kochi Muziris Biennale, 2014.
Take a walk down the Art Corridor where the July Lights is on display and you will find yourself in a reflective mood. Bhowmick’s pleasingly distorted figures or Das’ endearing bovines set the viewer contemplating the contradictories within the canvas, while the ‘Relations’ series by Asit Patnaik bring different perspectives to the corridor.
Be it the connoisseur or the buyer, the varied style, technical value, or even price, gives everyone something worth interacting with. In Patnaik’s paintings, the quasi realistic figurines of men and women are striking. The relationship dynamics of the life-size characters are brought out with a beautiful play of colour and light.
As if to compliment this reaction, H.R. Das lets his bovines charm one. Their endearing faces against patterned fields add energy to a space.
Amidst all this powerful colour, Bhowmick’s little frames won’t be lost. In his Bengal School influenced work, the line between the mobile and the static blurs, their characteristics blending into each other on the same plane. An expert in cross hatching, he uses primary colours to make them flow easily between shades of dark and darker, yet holds them within borders.
The pieces are all made by the artists especially for the show and are available for sale. July Lights will be on display at The Art Corridor, Taj West End till July 31.
