Art in the face of turmoil

One can say there exists a symbiosis between art and turmoil. Art may even be the mirror that reflects everything from the prettiest to the ugliest of the society. Keeping these things in mind, and paying homage to history in a satirical manner, a set of two exhibitions titled ‘Common Course’ and ‘Over the edge, crossing the line’ are currently being showcased at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in the capital.

Common Course depicts stereotypes, resistance, political consciousness and the moral crises of colonial India. This exhibition showcases the creations of Chittaprosad Bhattacharya, R.K. Laxman, Gaganendranath Tagore and K.G. Subramanyan.

As for the second exhibition, the works of five artists from Bengal —  Ganesh Pyne, Meera Mukherjee, Somnath Hore, Ganesh Haloi and Jogen Chowdhury — have been presented. This part of the exhibition mostly reflects on various occurrences in history like the Bengal famine, the Tebhaga movement, the Bangladesh Language Movement, etc.

In a chat with Kiran Nadar, founder of the gallery and art collector, she tells us, “I wanted to diversify the collection. It is a difficult task because you don’t just pick up any work that you think fits. You have to hunt for really good work.”

When asked about what aspect of these paintings she was most attracted to, she responds that it’s the variety that’s present in the collection. “They are not all the same colours. Some are acrylic and some are oil. A particular artist works with two-or-three mediums himself,” she explains.The aim of this exhibition was to shed some light on Indian art. She continues, “I want to give a message to people that they should start taking interest and visiting art exhibitions to see where Indian art is today.”