The west wing of the Salarjung Museum is buzzing with colours, ideas, creations and thoughts rightfully put on canvas. Fourteen artists from different places are showcasing their works as part of the exhibition titled ‘Art in Santiniketan to-day'. The exhibition is being held as part of World Heritage Week, organised from April 18 to April 25.
This exhibition shows a different perspective of art and sculpture. Each canvas on display is different from the others (expect a couple of artists who have worked on a series). For an onlooker, it is important to view each painting individually and not try to find a link between two or many canvasses. One such series is Chandana Khan's almost identical canvasses. Her acrylic on canvas works are a literal riot of colours with a tricky 3D touch in some and emboss feel in the others. Her creations can be viewed as water drops on lotus leaves with the reflection of sunlight through them.
Besides the canvases there are a few bronze sculptures and each them stand out with the imagination of the artists. Pankaj Panwar's ‘Eight Samurai' is a neat creation with an unmatched uniformity in each samurai's head. Tejendra S Baoni's ‘Thunder and clouds II' is a bronze creation. Straight thin bronze wires form the rain as it supports the dark wooden carved blocks of wood, which signifies the cloud.
There are other works which are different from what is done by our local artists, of which Shrabani Roy's ‘Without head' stands out. Shrabani has used the technique of frame weaving to shape her thoughts. Without playing too much with colours, Shrabani has done a wonderful job. Sunirmal Maiti's collection of ‘Speed and Salvation' is done in defused tones. His use of the modern man running with Krishna and his Gopikas in the background is an attempt to connect two worlds. Another series worth taking a look is Mamud Husain's untitled series. He has experimented with colours paranormal forms which speak a lot from hope to our connect with nature.
A straight forward canvas is Prasanta Sahu's ‘It's Stinking'. The artist raises and represents the dirt in our system like corruption, malpractices etc in words with a fly gigantic fly sitting on them.
Other artists who have showcased their works are Sumitabha Pal, Sahajahan SK, Arghya Priya, Mahjabin Majumdar, Manjari Chakravarti, Dilip Mitra and Pampa Panwar.
