BANGALORE: Graphitas, an exhibition showcasing both Intaglio print making which includes etching, drypoint and mezzotint, all of which are executed on copper or zinc plates, and Relief print making which includes linocut, woodcut and wood engraving at Right Lines Art Gallery is an effort to promote the technique of print making which is known for its unique technical qualities and its immense visual vocabulary.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Shobha Nambisan, the Director of National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore.
Works by some of the eminent artists of India like Yusuf Arakkal, Sakti Burman, Jogen Chowdhury, Ajit Dubey, Tapan Ghosh, Sanat Kar, Ravi kumar Kashi, Krishen Khanna, Tyeb Mehta, R M Palaniappan, Surya Prakash, Babu Eshwar Prasad, Srinivas Reddy, Gopal Sanyal, Paritosh Sen, Lalu Prosad Shaw and K G Subramanyan are on display at the exhibition. Many art lovers as well as artists also attended the event.
Present at the inaugural function was Sri Ravi Kumar Kashi, one of the artists whose art pieces are also at display in the exhibition.
He addressed the gathering and gave them an insight into the print making process. He added, “I portray my thoughts through the print making process and hope many other people will adopt this unique technique for giving shape to their thoughts.”
One of the major attractions is the art piece titled Hope by Yusuf Arakkal. It is a serigraph (a stencil process based on the porosity of silk which allows ink to pass through the areas which are not stopped with glue or varnish) which was displayed in a charity initiative called Art for Humanity in Durban (South Africa) in 2010.
Here, it was noticed and picked up for the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York, where it also shares the space with the works of great artists like Van Gogh and Manet and Krishna Reddy.
Indira Bharadwaj, one of the organisers said, “Our main motive is to promote this art form which is highly underrated in our country and a tribute to the masters who by making these art pieces really did a great job.”
There are 28 art pieces in this exhibition which will be on display till December 2.