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Surreal take
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Arunanshu Chowdhury’s images often take on intriguing landscapes and everyday objects
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Absorbing images The viewer is transported to a seemingly alien but surprisingly real world
Arunanshu Chowdhury’s recent paintings, ‘Probabilities of Occurring’ allude to images which come repeatedly to his mind reminding him of places he has visited. “The last couple of months have seen me travelling to several part
s of the world,” he says. “No matter how diverse and adverse the cultures of the varied peoples are, the sensibilities and concerns are common.”
Born in 1969 in W. Bengal, Arunanshu did BFA and MFA in painting from M S University, Baroda. Recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, Canada and Ravi Jain award, he has held several solo shows and participated in group shows in India and abroad. Adept in experimentation with several mediums such as oils, charcoal, collage, paper, acrylic, water colours and screen printing, the 38-year old artist is inspired by the happenings around his essentially urban surrounding.
In his current exhibition, Arunanshu brings up some absorbing images under the series, Silent Witnesses. A vacant barber’s chair which has fallen alphabets (not hair!) at its foot; a partially hidden autorickshaw (in Mumbai?) set against lashing waves and concrete boulders; a Cambodian tuk-tuk seen against the background of several photographs of sufferers of a dictatorial regime; mirrors of different sizes hung on a peeling wall; shiny kitchen cutlery of varying shapes … all these become symbols and metaphors narrating many stories the artist wants to share.
Another equally stimulating series, Heritage Tour Guide, straddles different venues and time periods. Here, sugarcane crushers, pushcarts selling cigarettes and paan, and mobile eateries stand silently and unattended in an undefined yet captivating landscape dotted with ancient forts and monuments.
In many of Arunanshu’s works, the viewer is transported to a seemingly alien but surprisingly real world. Admittedly the artist uses his canvas as his sketchbook. His penchant to employ graffiti as integral to his paintings, and multi-layering of his canvas with subdued colours and tones enhance the suspense and feel of his work.
The exhibition concludes on January 8 at Gallery Sumukha, Wilson Garden. Phone: 2229 2230.
GIRIDHAR KHASNIS
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