Abstract, figurative and contemporary. Viewers got to see all these styles and more at ‘Together-II’ , an exhibition of paintings. Inaugurated on September 18 at Soochana Bhavan by secretary of Tourism Department Ashok Tripathy, the exhibition had 60 paintings by 13 young artists from Orissa.
It was interesting to see that all the paintings were by emerging artists , some of whom are pursuing their studies in art, some choosing art as a profession and a few who despite being in different professions are following their heart in art. Put together by senior artist Manas Ranjan Jena, the exhibition included quite a few works of each of the artists. One can perhaps discuss them under two heads - conceptual and decorative.
Two of the artists who stood out were Kailash Chandra Nayak, a constable with the police department, and Chinmay Panda, an engineer by profession. Kailash’s canvas depicting ‘Shanti’ demonstrated Buddha amid the peaceful surrounding of forests and birds.
The artist demonstrated his skill in the small format works - fairly minimalist yet arresting the attention on account of the lines and colours. Semi-abstract’ in nature, the artist’s presentation was different and imaginative.
Chinmay’s painting ‘Nature’ was interesting on account of its imagery and details. He drew a dancing peacock to show the multiple colours of nature and life around it.
Tribal paintings by Khetrabasi Mohanta also stood out as all of them were inspired by the Santhal tribe of Orissa.
Similarly, Subrat Seth drew various tourism places in the State and added some elements like the plastic bags, wrappers in the painting to showcase the way these places are being spoiled by visitors. Another artist Gouri Rout drew on the theme of ‘Horse-trading’ which is today a burning topic in Orissa’s political scenario.
Surya Nayak’s canvas depicted the need for a corruption free society with a figurative painting of Anna Hazare and Mahatma Gandhi.
Other artists who participated in the show were Sanjeev Nanda who worked on womanhood and a IInd year student of B K Art College Vivek Dash who presented the ills of gambling in the society.
Of all the 60 paintings, five were sold during the five-day show that ended on Thursday.