Harmony of colour

While one artist chooses to be as obvious as painting a flower vase on a canvas, the other explores something as non-figurative as the universe in the other. Not just different perspectives, but sometimes even opposing ones come together in the exhibition, titled Galleria—Creative Showers, presenting 135 works by 72 artists from Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar in association with Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi.

To begin with, there are signature sculptures by Basudeb Biswas in the subjects that perhaps only he can do justice to. Bronze and brass sculptures in the woman series, yet another sculpture series, titled Ajantrik, whose inspiration he credits to Bengali director Ritwik Ghatak. The bras sculpture at first glance has both elements of a musical instrument and the key components of a machinery. A little discouraged despite exhaustive works in the ever time consuming portraits, Dr Rimpy Aggarwal, this time decided to go for a complete overhaul of both her medium and subjects. And that’s when she decided to juxtapose and splash the oils and pastels in bright colours on the canvas. With no particular form in mind but the forms nonetheless appeared. “This is for the first time I worked outside of my comfort zone,” she says while pointing to the series, titled Harmony, in Black. Prof Anil Gupta, HoD, Applied Art, likes to work on or rather explore unusual subjects in his photographs.

“My subjects are unusual not because they are rarely seen, rather they are a common sight, but they are unusual because they are least explored or even paid attention to,” he says pointing to his two photographs, titled Sacred Red, depicting the paraphernalia involved at a temple sight in vermillion colour. A bronze sculpture of a pregnant woman amidst a boat, titled Uncertain, depicts the predicament, the uncertainty and hope that all of us have and continue to encounter in our lives.

“She doesn’t have legs and she doesn’t have hands to row the boat with the oar lying right beside her signifies the helplessnessof human life itself,” says Rajesh Kalsi, assistant professor in design, of his sculpture.

—Manpriya Singh On till February 18 at Punjab Kala Bhawan—16, Chandigarh.