Art and the city

Mona

Amrita Sher-Gil Samman Samaroh brought along artistes of international repute with a Chandigarh connect to the city on Monday. Amrita Sher Gill was a huge inspiration for artist Prem Singh while he was a student, so much so that he visited her studio in Budapest, Hungary.

“She gave India its share of modern art,” says Prem Singh who considers this honour as an acknowledgement of his journey. He continues to paint more colours, more seasons, more moods and lyrical voices.

Studying in Chandigarh paved way for Ranbir Kaleka to make a journey from traditional to modern art forms. “The award is special to me as it is the city that put me on a path to modernity and getting honoured along with my colleagues that I admire makes it truly special,” says Ranbir, who has combined paintings with videos in his installations. Next, he is looking forward to make sculptors a part of it. “I want to make works immersive, to give the viewers a four dimensional experience.”

Teaching at the Governement College of Art, Chandigarh established Raj K Jain’s Chandigarh connection. An admirer of Amrita Sher-Gil for the way she combined her French training with Indian influences, Raj Jain continues to work with space and form. He loves the shape Corbusier gave to Chandigarh. “The city was planned by an architect who was also an artist. The new city experiment was done in Jaipur too. What makes Chandigarh special is the way buildings are in sync with the environment. We hear that now it’s set to change with multistory buildings coming in,” says the artist.

Honoured by Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi are Alka Pande— a prolific writer on Indology and art history and curator of several exhibitions in India and abroad who started her career in teaching from the Department of Fine Arts, Panjab University; Avtarjeet Dhanjal, who discovered sculpture in Government College of Art, Chandigarh. His kinetic sculptures express his exploration and articulation of the human condition; Brahm Prakash who taught and headed Government College of Art. He also introduced MFA courses in all the four disciplines of painting, sculpture, graphics (printmaking) and applied art; Gurcharan Singh, known for works like ‘Red Light in Black and White’ and ‘Les Miserables’, is also an alumnus of Government College of Art, Jagmohan Chopra (late), who was called an artist’s artist, Sidharth, known for his beautiful forms and natural colours, Virendar Singh Tanwar, who just not enriched the arts scene in Chandigarh but also as secretary Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, vice-chairman and secretary, Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, General Council member, National Lalit Kala Akademi and more.

“In fact by honouring them the Akademi is honouring itself,” says Diwan Manna, chairperson, Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi.

mona@tribunemail.com