Art is long, life is short, as Oscar Wilde would have one believe. Art is also a soul-to-soul encounter. But not all works of art survive the test of time, and much depends on the depth, dimension and transcendental quality of the works of individual painters. Be that as it may, a recent exhibition of paintings organised by Surnandan Bharati, a recognised organisation promoting the performing arts, was showcased at the Gaganendra Shilpa Pradarshasala Kolkata from 7–10 July 2024. The kaleidoscopic, painterly visual impressions, other than those from Kolkata, had roped in other artists from the districts of West Bengal.

The inauguration took place on Sunday, 7 July, where two eminent personalities aside from Ritish Ranjan Chakraborty of Surnandan Bharati were present on the occasion. Arup Roy, minister in charge of food processings industries & horticulture, Govt. of West Bengal, stated that it was really praiseworthy that Surnandan Bharati had organised this type of exhibition. He congratulated the secretary of Surnandan Bharati, Ritish Ranjan Chakraborty, and those associated with this organisation. Ashoke Kumar Paul cordially welcomed all the artists who had participated in this exhibition and hoped one day they would reach the pinnacle of success.

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Monalisa Ghosh, an internationally known Odissi exponent and head of the department of Surnandan Bharati, spoke in favour of the exhibition when the danseuse stated that dance was related to art, as evident from the Konark sculptures in Orissa, which have a connection to art and dance coming into its own as a soulful harmony. This was followed by vocals by Jaba Mukhopadhyay and Subhodeep Sarkar, with Odissi dance rendered by Subhodeep Dutta and Atashi Biswas, students of Odissi exponent Monalisa Ghosh. The associates of Surodhwani, under the guidance of elocutionist Anita Roy Mukherjee, presented a beautiful recitation.

There were far too many paintings of artists Goutam Ghosh from Naihati, Arijita Das, Sanju Mahapatra, Sankar Mondal from Kolkata, Subroto Kumar Pal from Halishahar, Rumpa Das De from Medinipur, Ivy Mosel Naskar of Howrah, and Ayan Majumdar from Kolkata, and 21 students of the Nrityanaad School of Performing Arts under the guidance of artist Ayan Majumdar of Bediapara, Sinthee, Kolkata, 86 in all, including 3 autistic artists Subhashree Chanda, Sumon Das and Bishweshar Das.

Less paintings on display would have given more space for thought, and the gallery’s lighting arrangement was too bright, making the colour and texture of the paintings loud and gaudy. But the artists are not to be blamed for that. Most of the paintings mounted are predominantly impressionistic art, except for a few realistic works presented. Among the realistic work, Avijit Chowdhury from Kolkata may be credited with a black-and-white portraiture of Hollywood stars from the film Titanic, Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet, that stood out, riveting the viewers attention.

Among the impressionist paintings, Goutam Ghosh from Naihati had a pessimistic view of life with his visual impression of death and destruction executed in acrylic. Subrata Kr Pal from Halisahar, on the contrary, endeavoured to view traditional Indian art from a new perspective in his watercolour painting. Arijita Das from Kolkata portrayed Nazrul Islam in a monochrome collage form, giving the rebel poet a tranquil expression.

The writer is an independent contributor