Aakriti Art’s affordable art is a dream for young collectors 15-09-2022

Uma Nair

Critic and Curator Uma Nair has been writing for the past 33 years on art and culture She has written as critic for Times of India and Economic Times. She believes that art is a progressive sojourn. And there are those who are taught and those who are self taught. She herself had learnt by looking at the best shows in Washington D.C. and New York. And life is about learning and growing.

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Aakriti Art Gallery’s  ‘Affordable September Art Mela’ in Kolkata is a dream for young collectors . After completing  nine  successful editions of the fair at the Kolkata gallery,  we look at a melange of works that make art accessible to all. Vikram Bachawat collector,connoisseur and gallery founder says “ Affordable Art Mela hopes to bring art into the lives of people who harbour a passion and love for it. The gallery will be showcasing the works of over a hundred artists with more than a thousand artworks within the range of 1000 to 1,00,000 INR.”

This is a one-of–a-kind occasion for art enthusiasts to collect original pieces of art at the best prices. The pursuit of owning great works of art should not be limited to a few. The pleasure of living with and savouring great works of art is incomparable to merely looking at them in galleries.

Sculptures of depth and strength

Akhil Chandra Das’s Horse is a magnificent work that has surreal hues of form and fantasy.Posture and poise both play with the beauty of compositional clarity and depth of vision.The base and the angular precision all have their own grace in the language of sculptonic intensity.

Yet another beauty of Subrata Biswas’s Echoing Green that celebrates indigenous and tribal customs.It also speaks of the beauty of India’s forests that have been destroyed in the name of development.Biswas is a silent genius whose stories are born of the past the present and the discriminated .It has an ecological echo.

Tapas Biswas yet another maestro with his bronze works that look like a translation of impressionist modes of composition and candour.

This work is about time and tide.It has its own character and charisma in the manner in which it creates testimonies.

Paintings of perennial dynamics 

Amongst paintings are the singular contoured drawings by two Bengal Masters Jogen Chowdhury and Lalu Prasad Shaw. Jogenda’s horse is a melancholy moody gram that talks to us about the intricate connection between man and nature.Contours in Jogenda’s hand are filled with passion and a piety for the description that must do justice to the mood and the mystery. Fluid lithe lines are his leitmotif over 60 years of practice keeping him in his own class.

Lalu Prasad Shaw the Bengal Master who celebrates the beauty of Bengali culture as well as the one of the leading Indian graphic artists during the resurgence in printmaking during the late 1960s.

Lalu Prasad Shaw frequently works with gouache and tempera  to produce chromatic renderings of individuals he sees throughout everyday life.The women in his oeuvre are serene beautiful creations sari clad and sometimes embellished with a flower in their hair but always impeccably clothed with their pleated saris.This drawing too is a study to behold.Her hands in an act of being raised to perfect her hair is a winsome rendition of gesture.

Chandra Bhattacharjee’s portrait is an acrylic on canvas that is languid and subtle in statement. Dusky women are his insignia, they  exist in  realms that are far removed from the hustle and bustle of everyday living, Bhattacharjee’s compositions are influenced by the rural and tribal associations that he had an opportunity to work with; particularly the ‘Santhal’ tribe of Calcutta. The textural terrain in the woman’s face,  is strongly reminiscent of the traditional mud walls of these villages filled with a rustic resonance.The colours in Bhattacharjee’s paintings are at once, subdued and vibrant and soothe the senses. The world of Bhattacharjee’s creations are about borderless boundaries and the coexistence of  harmony.

Chaitali Chanda is one of Kolkata’s most promising women artists who has a felicity and flair for contours.Women at work are her subject and she creates gorgeous working women who sit and labour in the surroundings she creates.The shades of colour tones her texturing and sense of detail all create a symphony of stories.

Amongst landscapes and cityscapes are a verdant landscape by Biraj Kumar Paul and a stellar cityscape of Kolkata with its yellow taxis by Amlan Dutta.

Both artists have a fine control and handling of realism and they echo the prowess and power of the old Bengal School.This affordable art mela has something for everyone and therein lies the strength and scope of such an exercise.A must for collectors who would like to begin.

Courtesy: The Times of India