There was acrylic and oil on canvas, there was photo art. But the chord that bound young artist Shubhra Chaturvedi's works was the vibrancy of colours. The six-day exhibition, “Nirantar”, which was on view till this past Thursday at the Convention Centre of India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, was, to use the cliché, a riot of colours. Paint strokes of green, orange, red, blue, yellow, purple and black vied for viewers' attention with snapshots in similar hues. The show was divided into two sections: one of oil and acrylic, and the other comprising 17 works of photo art.
In acrylic, Shubhra's canvas “Mela” stood out. More than half of the huge canvas was taken by a dafli with the reflection of the player's merry face on it. Though one felt the strokes needed more maturity, the work won the heart because of the idea.
Yet another acrylic work, “Top View” had a distinct character in terms of shapes and familiarity of space. Though in black and white, her “The Stage is Set” demanded attention. In oil, her 75cm/100cm “The Other Side” was pretty impressive.
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Shubhra, a full time photographer and artist who has also been taking lessons in art from Vasundhara Tewari Broota, also had put together a couple of canvases in the form of a series. If her “Goblets of Desire” were provocative, her “Jantar” and “Mantar” was a good idea in execution. So was her “Chaap”. However, her “Tulips” and “Punctuated” failed to lift themselves to the level of inspiring art.
The Delhi-based artist in her second solo show, however, excelled in her works of photo art, particularly in “Republic”, “Hide and Seek” and “Flow of Fantasy.” The lines and curves and the ebb and flow of colours made her abstract works stand out.