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A journey through art
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Four artists from Pondicherry explore the theme of travel in distinct styles
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PHOTO K. PICHUMANI
REFLECTIONS OF LIFE At the "Dakshin Hawa" exhibition
These artists come from far and wide — Arpita Mohapatra from Orissa, Kirti Chandak from Maharashtra, Vishwajyoti Mohrhoff from Madhya Pradesh, and Bibekananda Santra from West Bengal — but call Pondicherry home.
That's the binding factor. The artists weren't sure if that aspect would hold the exhibition titled "Dakshin Hawa" together. But in a strange way, it does.
Arpita's ochre and pink acrylics, painted during her pregnancy, reflect the artist's pensive mood, with floating references to travel, the sea (the artist has recently shifted to Mauritius and takes a great interest in deep sea diving) and Pondicherry.
Spiritual overtones
Kirti's works are autobiographical too, but in a refreshing way. Using bright colours, her works capture almost playfully, at one level, a child's amazement at the splendours of Nature, the sea in particular. In "To Chennai by East Coast Road", a young Kirti with her distinctive curly locks is inconspicuous. At another level, it hints at the artistic and spiritual journeys undertaken, and the horizon the artist is contemplating about.
Vishwajyoti too paints about the journeys man makes, but depicted through the growing complexities of the games he plays. And though some of her figures threaten to turn into chess pieces, there's always hope symbolised in a little window or a road. Her "Nature Vivante" canvases are her answer to `still life' or nature morte.
While the first three artists have spent their childhood in Pondicherry, their art training has been varied. Arpita has trained from Chitra Kala Parishad, Bangalore, while Kirti is a Viswa Bharati product. Vishwajyoti is a self-taught artist.
Bibekananda Santra, also from Viswa Bharati, has chosen to settle down in Pondicherry. His work concentrates on a dramatic use of space, with motifs of day-to-day spiritual rituals, particularly the `alpana' or rangoli of Bengal sprinkled along with faces in stark contrast that look like those straight out of the old prints.
"Dakshin Hawa" is on till September 17 (Monday to Friday), 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the Alliance Francaise Gallery.
MEERA MOHANTY
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