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March 2010, the month is generally associated with the year ending, but we at Aakriti Art Gallery do hope that you enjoyed our first issue of the monthly named Art news & views, published in a magazine format. Please feel free to mail us your valuable comments to newsnviews@aakritiartgallery.com as feedback is important to us for further improvement.

Chandan Bhandari was born in 1973 in Kolkata, West Bengal.

Chandan has done MFA in Sculpture from IKS University, Chhattisgarh. He has participated at Annual Art Exhibition, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata from 2001-2005, at AIFACS, New Delhi in '01 & '03, Birla Academy, Kolkata in '01-'03 and '06. Other prominent shows includes, Harmony Show, Mumbai, 'Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow organised by Govt. College of Art and Times of India, Show at Chitrakoot Art Gallery among others. As part of group shows, he has exhibited his works at Chitrakala Parishad, Bangalore, Bajaj Art Gallery, Mumbai, Jehangir Art Gallery and at other places. Chandan is the winner of the Indian Society of Oriental Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts awards and has attended camps for Dokra and wood carving.

Priyanka is just 30. But even at this young age, she has an appreciable list of achievements. Priyanka did her MVA in Painting from the Government College of Art & Craft, Kolkata. She has participated in the shows, 'Art against Terrorism' organized by Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata and 'An Exhibition of Contemporary Art' organized by SAARC Women Organization in Dhaka in 2009; 'Gen Next III' by Aakriti Art Gallery, 'Golden Brush 2008' organized by The Eye Within, 'Continuity' presented by Verandahart at the Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata and 'Bengal Creation' at the Gallery Yapan Chitra, Kolkata in 2008. She was also one of the participants in the show 'Young Contemporaries 2007' curated by Jogen Chowdhury at the Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata. She has participated in the Annual shows of the Academy of Fine Arts, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Camlin Art Foundation Annual Exhibitions and Charukala Utsav organized by the West Bengal Government in Kolkata. Priyanka has attended the Gen Next workshop held at ECA, Kolkata in 2008 and workshops organized by Rotary Club, College of Visual Arts, Kolkata Information Centre and West Bengal Forest Department in 2006 and 2007. She has received the Biman Bihari Das scholarship in 2006-07 and the Kishori Lal Roy Award (2005) from Govt. College of Art & Craft, Kolkata. 

This month the art shop has the latest art magazines like Art etc (3rd issue) published from Kolkata, Depart from Bangladesh, Art Journal and Galerie from Mumbai along with a special issue of Art & Deal along with our own Art News & Views. The catalogue of Ashoke Mullick along with his monograph are the latest inclusions in the art shop.

Besides various art books & monographs the art shop also has a wide range of display pads, coffee mugs, note books, diaries, coasters, prints, small sculptures and lot more collectibles.

All art shop articles can be bought online – www.aakritiartgallery.com
 

A virtual meeting ground for artists, art collectors, art  enthusiasts, critics and connoisseurs.	Post your views on www.aakrititalkart.com

Posted by Jonathan Shih on September 7, 2009 at 11:30am

I wrote this article in my journal dated 20 March 1999, with the intention of submission to the Philippine Daily Inquirer for possible publication. But apparently, again, it didn't get off the writing table. And so, I'm writing it here in my blog.

As I was going over the March 15 issue of your paper an article caught my eye. The article is concerning the book of a certain Dr. Eleuterio 'Teyet' Pascual. In which he wrote about the recent discovery of Juan Luna's lost drawings. In his book, Dr. Pascual declared the discovery of at least one thousand of Juan Luna's drawings and sketches. I'm not a Juan Luna fan but I continued reading the article until something else caught my attention. The so called loud allegations of outspoken 'Artists', especially a certain Mauro Malang Santos, caught my attentive eye.

Mr. Santos says to prove that the Luna drawings are authentic because presumably, he believes the drawings are fake. And was drawn by a forger. And then he commented, “It's impossible for an artist to produce 1,000 drawings.” Such a brave statement coming from someone who has a somewhat shallow perspective of Art.

Let me explain. It was customary in the time of Juan Luna, which was I presume, in the late nineteenth century, to make preparatory drawings for a painting (before the advent of modernism in Art, painters ever since followed the old time tested tradition of painting a picture, by making preparatory drawings for a painting, especially in Oil Painting).These drawings are used as a way to prepare the final painting before executing it.

Supposing Juan Luna produced just 50 finished paintings (which is doubtful) in his lifetime. And supposing he made a minimum of 20 preparatory drawings for each painting. What would be the total? Twenty times fifty would amount to 1,000 drawings! And that is just twenty drawings per painting, and I doubt if Juan Luna made only 20 drawings per painting. With his stature as a painter and the customary painting process that every painter in his time uses.

Going back to Mr. Santos' comment of the impossibility for an artist to produce 1,000 drawings. Would had it been better for Mr. Santos to say, “It’s impossible for Juan Luna to produce 1,000 drawings.”

Wouldn't that be more closer to reality?

And the resounding reality is this, the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), one of the most productive and innovative artists in Art history, in one of the most recent inventories of his oeuvre, has produced around 15,000 paintings, more than 660 sculptures, countless drawings and graphic work.

My concern right now has nothing anymore to do with Juan Luna's drawings being allegedly fake. But my concern at the moment is that certain individuals with shallow perceptions on Art and Art history are saying remarks that undermine the very essence of what it is to a true artist. Of what it is to create paintings and drawings, not for the fame and stature, not for the money and prestige. But for the sheer conviction that that is what a true artist is called upon this earth to do. Because he is a true artist.

(Excerpts from a blog-post. Grammar, syntax and spellings remain unchanged. The views expressed herein are entirely that of the writer.)

To read more please visit our blog www.aakrititalkart.com