Gift of creativity

Amarjot Kaur

Those who understand that art is not merely a skill of stroking colour-laden brushes on canvas, truly value its existence as a medium of voicing expressions, which words fail to communicate. As the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi organises its annual art exhibition at the Punjab Kala Bhawan, where it features as many as 101 works of artists from across the city, including Mohali and Panchkula, it seems to celebrate the tendency of art to express all that’s lost between the lines.

While some works at the exhibition hit you on your head, intellectually, and cajole you to think, there are others, which pass swiftly through your eyes pacifying them with aesthetic visuals — for instance, the abstract dreamy landscapes by Anand Shinde and Shiva series by Ravinder Sharma.

Ravi Kant’s aptly titled Metropiece laments the plight of birds like sparrows, crows and pigeons in the cityscapes, which is placed alongside Virendra Kumar Rana’s installation titled Allowed III. In this installation, the artist seems to rue over inequality as far as the scope of opportunities stands questioned.

Some of the award-winning works, among which Charanjit Singh’s installation, titled Hope, features a delicate moment of a balloon falling on the bed of knives pointed against gravity juxtaposed against the balloon falling on them due to gravity. Quite a sight to ignite a thought, right? Now, just when you look away and employ the rest of attention to study the paintings by Shivani Bhalla, where she experiments with gauche on rice paper and Manjot Kaur’s pen and ink works; a chunk of wooden frames, assembled rather artistically, makes you imagine the innumerable possibilities in which art allows you to communicate, even with yourself.

Offering a leaf off Alka Kalra’s Dhaba series and Shubhash Shorey’s Elemental Force series, the exhibition features new works of Mahesh Prajapati, Bheem Malhotra, and Diwan Manna. Blown heavily on the archival inkjet print on paper, Diwan Manna’s Flight to Freedom, clicked at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, captures its essence in the contrasting shades of mustard yellow and deep green, as its composition reflects motion with a pigeon soaring high. The exhibition also features interesting and almost thought-provoking artworks by the students of Arts College. What entertains one’s mind is the use of newer mediums, including chin cole, aquatint, lithography, etching and intaglio by the younger lot. A little deviation from the regular oil or acrylic on canvas, the student category features the works of more experimental mediums expressed in thoug-ht provoking subjects. The works of Nutan Dhiman, Rahul Dhiman, Anamika Gupta and Vikas reflect heavily the younger generation’s consciousness of matters pertaining to society as a whole.

Indeed an intense visual experience!

amarjot@tribunemail.com