THEIR works leave you puzzled at the first glance, but a deeper look would give you an insight into their thoughts that they give shape to with different materials. Each piece of art being showcased at the ongoing Rigel New Media show has a meaning; every material has been used with an aim.
A group of four artists - Ranjit Sahoo, Archana Das, Biswabhushan Gourisahankar Ray, Debasis Beura, Prabhakar Sahoo, Ritika Sharma and Kumari Ranganath – are showcasing their new media works in the exhibition that has been mounted at the Odisha Modern Art Gallery.
Nature, migration, society, environmental degradation, displacement and lost childhood are some themes close to their heart. In a 30 cm-high glass jar, Debashis Beura has planted a beheaded human figurine on a bed of coal dust. The art piece is accompanied by an audio installation in which, the artist questions human existence. “I take inspiration from daily life. Today, people are manipulative and they think less. This is the reason behind several problems in the society. The headless figure is synonymous with people today,” he explains.
Ranjit Sahoo’s installation has a vintage look. He has interestingly arranged 80 unique traditional lamps including kerosene hurricane lamps, colonial era lamps and glass lamps, which were earlier used in both rural and urban households, on three walls of the gallery. “These are among many utility items that are vanishing in our fast changing lives. These lamps are not found today. Through my art I want to shift focus of people towards utility of these lamps,” he says.
Biswabhushan Gourisahankar Ray’s work focuses on extra-terrestrial activities. He uses pictures of UFOs seen in the sky, the radio signal ‘Wow’ of 1977 when astronomer Jerry Ehman heard the sound of aliens for the first time, Nazca desert and Akkadian cylinder seal of 2300 BC, to create an installation showing that humans are not alone. Archana Das’ etching and mixed media works focuses on nature while, Prabhakar Sahoo’s three-piece paintings point to migration. On sheets of tattered papers, he draws crowded public spaces with people trying to find a space of their own. “When a city develops, it doesn’t consider giving space to migrants and low class people, who leave their land behind to earn their bread,” he says.
The exhibition concludes on Saturday.