by Mrinal Ghosh

Metallurgy: A Sculpture Show

The Harrington Street Arts Centre
10 March to 30 March, 2012

The exhibition displayed metal sculptures by 13 eminent sculptors from different parts of the country. Laxma Goud was the senior-most artists participating in the show. The works of younger artists displayed new approach to sculptural form that made the show very interesting. The other artists participating in the show were: Adip Dutta, Alex Mathew, Bhabatosh Sutar, G. Raghu, Karl Antao, Nantu Behari Das, Pankaj Panwar, N.N. Rimzon, Rajasekharan Nair, Samir Roy, Tapas Biswas and Thomas Kavoor.

Beneath the Black: a Group Show of 10 Artists

Gandhara Art Gallery                                                                                             
10 March to 24 March, 2012

The show comprised of paintings, sculptures, installations and video installations mostly displayed the dark reality and a sense of protest against the black environment. The participating artists were: Nantu Behari Das, Farhad Hussain, Prasun Ghosh, Arindam Chatterjee, Kazi Nasir, Prasanta Sahu, Tapas Biswas, Krishna Murary, Prabir Gupta and Chhatrapati Dutta. Farhad, Arindam and Kazi Nasir showed paintings of their usual style. Chhatrapati showed computer manipulated photographs extracting the black reality of life. The title of Prabir Gupta's sculpturesque installation type work was Still Life After Demolition. The Sailor, a life size sculpture by Tapas Biswas showed a black nude human sailing on a boat. The most exciting video installation was by Krishna Murary. The fibre glass sculpture of a standing nude woman contained a black box on her shoulder in place of head. Inside the box series of video.

Open Air Studio: Academic and Community Art Workshop

Fortune Park Panchwati, in Association with Calcutta Painters
22 March to 25 March, 2012

Based on the ideology of Tagore, the 'workshop/ exhibition/ art for sale' revealed Tagore through paintings and ceramics. It was a unique event that witnessed the presence of some of the most prominent names in the art world. A total of 61 artists (members of 'Calcutta Painters' and invited guest artists) from West Bengal, Delhi and Bangladesh united and participated in the workshop. Some of the guest artists participating in the workshop were Ganesh Haloi, Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, Suhas Roy, Niranjan Pradhan, Sunil Das, Uma Siddhanta, Parth Pratim Deb, Shankar Ghosh and others.

Art for Nature's Sake: An Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures and Ceramics

Birla Academy                                                                                                             
20 March to 25 March, 2012    

Fourteen artists from different parts of the country had come together in this group show featuring works of various forms and contents. Multiplicity of expression was its basic characteristic. Despite the title of the show it was not based on landscapes only. 'Nature' was treated here in a broader sense. All the artists in that sense explored various aspects of life. The concept note stated: 'What is intact and runs as a common thread through them all is their love for nature and their commitment towards an exploration of the self and its unending layers.' There were two sculptors, Biswajeeta Maharana from Bhubaneswar and Vijaya Chauhan from Chattisgarh. Chaita Basu Jena from Bhubaneshar made exquisite graphics. Painters from other parts of the country were Kishore Kumar Sahu from Chatisgarh, Shashi Kant Bane, Dr. Nalini G. Bhagwat and Philip D'Mello from Mumbai, Khanderao Powar and Ramesh Kher from Indore, Anuradha Nalapat from Bangalore. From Kolkata the participants were Prateep Ghosh, Prakash Maji, Malay Chandan Saha and Barun Roy.

20th Anniversary of the artists' group 'The Frame'

Academy of fine Arts                                                                                          
21 March to 27 March, 2012

The Kolkata based artists' group 'The Frame' was formed in 1993. The group has completed 20 years of their successful sojourn. To celebrate two decades of their existence the group show had been organized in which six of their present members and four previous members, who are now not with the group, had participated. The present members included Soumutra Kar, Pran Gopal Ghosh, Bishwajit Saha, Sandhyakar Kayal, Debashis Samanta and Arunagshu Roy. And the previous members were Chayan Roy, Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Sushanta Mandal and Kumud Ranjan Haldar. Successful assimilation of tradition and modernity was an engaging feature of the exhibition.

Moods of Fantasy: A Solo Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Kamalaksha Gangopadhyay

Bengal Art Gallery, Rabindranath Tagore Centre                                                    
20 March to 27 March, 2012

Kamalaksha Gangopadhyay, a former principal of Government college of Art and Craft, Kolkata, is an acclaimed painter, graphic artist, calligrapher, set and pavilion designer. In this solo exhibition presented by Rabindranath Tagore Centre he had showcased his drawings and paintings in acrylic and mixed media done in lyrical lines and romantic exuberance of colour composition transforming the natural, human and animal figures towards grotesque fantasy bringing out a soothing and pleasing environment.

Illustrated Lecture on Mughal Painting in the Collection of Indian Museum, Kolkata by Dr. Ashok Das

Ashutosh Centenary Hall                                                                                         
27 March, 2012

Dr. Ashok Das is a renowned art historian and museum curator, an acclaimed expert on Mughal and miniature paintings of India. In the lecture that continued for more than an hour he delved into the genesis and characteristics of Mughal miniature painting showing and stressing on the collection of Indian Museum, Kolkata. He explained in details how the collection was started by the renowned British art historian and educationist E.B. Havell in 1896 and gradually increased to cover the important phases of this genre. Dr. Das uniquely pointed out an episode how Havell had explained the beauty and dexterity of execution of these miniatures to Abanindranath Tagore who in turn was overwhelmed by skillful beauty of the Mughal miniatures that inspired him towards development of his own indigenous form.

The Wonder of It All:  A Retrospective

Sakti Burman at Victoria Memorial and Akar Prakar Gallery                                       
2 April to 29 April, 2012

Though based in Paris, Sakti Burman is very much Indian and Bengali in his artistic sensibility and way of life. This statement is also to some extent erroneous. Burman is Indian and international in the same fold. His art also reveals the same truth. He regularly shows his works in India. This time he had come with his retrospective spanning over about six decades. After exhibiting at Delhi and Mumbai the show was displayed at Kolkata. Victoria showcased about sixty of his paintings in oil, water colour and pastel, also few of his sculptures. At Akar Prakar there were only his drawings. The spectators of Kolkata have been elated to witness how the wonder and submerged dream contained in his works through mythical fantasy also points towards revelation of contemporary issues of unrest and turmoil. A book titled The Wonder of It All on the works of Burman was published on this occasion in which three illuminating articles on the works of the artist were written by B. N. Goswami, Kishor Singh and Mrinal Ghosh.

The Art of Bengal: Presented by Delhi Art Gallery

The Harrington Street Art Centre                                                                           
4 April to 17 April, 2012

This well researched exhibition showcased the development of modernity and modernism of the art of Bengal from early nineteenth century to the contemporary period. It started from the works of the British artists, who visited India during 18th and 19th century and traversed through Company School, works of Early Bengal School, Kalighat Pat paintings and such other pre-modern trends.The works of Annada Prasad Bagchi, Bamapada Banerjee, Shashi Hesh et al illuminated the show. It then came to neo-Indian School and various branches of the same and reached up to the works of the artists coming to lime light during 1960-s. On this occasion Delhi Art Gallery had published a well researched voluminous book of the same title edited by Kishor Singh with three articles by Paula Sengupta, Sanjay Mallik and Ina Puri.