Delhi
The Melody of Life:
Exhibition of Artworks by Shampa Sircar Das, Shyamal Mukherjee, Samir Sarkar, Subrata Das
7th April – 12th April, 2023
This exhibition consists of the works of four artists of West Bengal, steeped in the tradition of an older generation but devoid of the limitations that were forced upon it in the struggle for freedom to produce works that used oils and acrylic on canvas as modern media on the one hand and evolve different uses of these in a new sense of figuration reflecting the changing needs of our times.
Subrata Das reflects this trend in works that portray the traditional Radha Krishna legend in the form of the lives of village people with the composition of these works reminding us of different episodes of the legends and anecdotes that abound in rural India to reach out an audience that barely went beyond the romantic world or fables and legends.
Samir Sarkar carries forward this tradition in the form of groups of figures in romantic rural settings creating a sense of fairy tale figuration and then introduces a break in this by confronting us with an armed jeep in a stark red background as also a pair of women embracing each other in a similar background reflecting this same romanticism as his other works.
Shampa Sircar Das chooses to create an aethereal ambience of a broad net of nature of which the human figure is but a face, sharing her canvas with a peacock, swan, fish, deer and a lotus pond. The aethereal harmony she portrays is in cool colors of blue and green, but almost dream like except in the image of a goddess in human form embedded in a sharp red background reflecting perhaps the destructive capacity of our presence in the harmony of nature, representing a break in its easy flow.
This brings us to the works of Shyamal Mukherjee whose tongue in cheek figuration stands out in the manner of its execution both through a brighter than usual sense of colour and his use of acrylic on reverse acrylic that highlights the technique of his expression rather than the figuration which is drawn from the folk imagery of the world of popular art putting our reactions to forms at ease and distinguishing his expression from mere romanticism. This trend is further strengthened by his mobile sculptures of cranes with movements that are not just mechanical but reflect the motions of dancing cranes as a virtual challenge to formal realism in a post-modernist framework.
Put together, the works of these four artists reflect not only a neo-realism based on composition, colorful harmony and its being embedded in the medium itself with tools like virtual reality, tongue in cheek romanticism and post-modernism that carries the burden of neo-romanticism convincingly on its shoulders, reminding us that the time is not far when we will face a new renaissance in art beyond the romanticism that appears to herald its arrival ahead of it. This gives these works their authenticity and claim to being recognized as such. Contemporary art is the true barometer of changing times, linking the past, present and future with constantly evolving forms, colours and shapes, none of which are meant to be eternal but merely pointers to alternative pathways to what lies ahead with constantly evolving forms, colours and shapes none of which are meant to be eternal but merely pointers to alternatives to the future and, in this exhibition, each artist is able to express his or her relation to this process in a unique and individual manner with the complete freedom it offers.
