Footloose & Fancy-free: Of painters, plain prose and poetry

IT could have been exciting and inspirational, but it didn’t find the right audience. ‘Kala Mangal Shrinkla’ — the first group exhibition of paintings and photographs organized by the Bihar Academy of Fine Arts (Lalit Kala Akademi), from a critical standpoint, was strictly middle-of-the-road: a melange of the mundane, the mediocre and the mildly interesting.There were, however, a few canvases that did call for attention.
Six artists and photographers came together to exhibit their work, and, rather endearingly, to take the potshots at their participating peers, especially those in absentia.
Asha Pandey, art teacher and faculty member in the fashion design department at Patna Women’s College, is known locally for the Mithila- and Madhubani-style painting, until she decided to expand her boundaries from folk art to the contemporary and cosmopolitan. Her exhibits were largely built on her assignments as a student of the College of Arts and Crafts. “I’m a brand new graduate,” she quips, “You can say I earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts the hard way, balancing my working life with domestic duties! But the more you learn, the more you grow.”
Pandey’s work was built around religious motifs and themes: an exquisite and finely-executed Madhubani painting featuring Krishna and his consort; an approach to assemblage art; attractive papier mache and acrylic 3D rendition of the Buddha’s merging with the Bo tree that was the ‘show stopper’ of the exhibition; and a noble attempt at conceptual art with her ‘kamal (lotuses).
Conceptual pieces by Praween Kumar of Gaya district appeared to have been inspired by Subodh Gupta. Kumar’s work approach is elementary, clean and cerebral. His ‘nirman’ (construction) with bricks made of 500 rupee notes, and ‘sold’ which was, in fact, a comment on the commercialization of art (or artists?) was a delight to behold. The piece ‘Waiting’ showed a basket with a string propped up by a stick: so deliciously rustic and simple.
At best, one could describe the work of Mridula as organic. There was no one style to this painter. What influenced her? Van Gough? Amar Chitra Katha? Tribal art? Buddha and flowers were her favourite motifs. “I don’t want to have a style. I paint from my heart. I paint whatever I think is beautiful. Buddha is important for peace, and so I love to paint scenes from his life. I also love nature, and that’s why I paint flowers,” she says. Mridula has exhibited her work in several places around India and in South Korea.
For photographer, painter and graphic artist Ranjan Amritnidhi, who displayed his photographs on immunization and child labour, development should be an integral part of art. A well-known journalist-photographer, Amritnidhi says his focus is on children’s rights and welfare because kids are India’s only hope for the future. Photographer Rajesh Sarkar’s portraits of women and sadhus were interesting. Photo-journalism and photographic art are distinct, yet at times, the boundaries blur. These exhibits were misplaced. They were plain prose, one longed for poetry.
Chanrama Devi’s pen and ink sketches fused with acrylic appeared to be an attempt to fuse the Mithila style with some elements of cubism, but it didn’t fly. The sketches were like muted, semi-formed embryos, waiting for maturity.
The group exhibition was held with the objective of introducing some Bihar artists and contemporary fine arts to a wider audience. Most of the people who visited the venue seemed to be friends of the artists, or opinionated critics. This exhibition could have provided an opportunity for learning and inspiration for students. The Academy could have invited kids from government schools. They would have loved the “Kala Mangal Shrinkla”.