Amit Bhar’s collection of Rajasthan and the Buddha series was on preview recently at the Mahua Gallery. The semi-realistic technique of texturing, realistic play of light and shadows come to the fore in his works.
The series appears like photographic collages capturing musicians, puppets and camels — the colourful saddle and arrogant expression of the camel took art connoisseurs back to the land of myths and legends.
However, it was the Buddha series that attracted most attention from the guests. Inspired from the Gandhara sculptures along with his individualistic style, it’s the intricate texturing which gives his work the imagery of a sculpture.
Budh Purnima — a powerful face of the Buddha — reflects the full moon depicting the transaction of Siddharth to Buddha. A champa flower in the palm of a devotee in large frame, looks almost real, as the iridescent Buddha in white rises in the celestial background.
Amit, who studied art in Bengal under Shri Paresh Das, presently lives in Bangalore. “We are puppets and someone up there pulls the strings. Being religiously inclined, the Buddha has always inspired me and when I am capturing the many stages of the legend, I actually feel the power and my work is the projection of life in human forms. I am passionate about water colours and love its’ activity and liveliness. I have Buddha in brown, blue, green, ocher, sitting upright, reclining and the mudra which has inspired generations,” says Amit adding that it took him two to three months to think of the concept and a year to get this collection together.
“The solidity of the textures is a conversation of water colours,” said Kanna Sarakar, an artist of yesteryears who was at the show.
Among the guests, Aarti Sud, Bobby Handa and Dr Reddy seemed to be overwhelmed by the transparent, weightless nature of the medium. On exhibit at Mahua Art Gallery, Leela Palace,  till August 31.
Blend of artistic elements
Time and Space recently had a preview of the works of Kanika Mukerjee and her brother Ashish Hazra. Kanika,  who lives in Valsad, Gujarat, has a qualification in graphic designing and has been teaching children puppetry and art for 10 years. Inspired by nature, her varied palette depicts the panoramic countryside in greens and yellows of spring along with rustic browns.
“I travel a lot and the countryside always lures me to its dramatic garbs. I love playing with light and shadows, and enjoy working with pencil and dry pastel which gives texture to the work,” says Kanika.
The unencumbered structure of nature’s expression vary in form, colour and mood. Details of blades of grass and splashes of the colours of flowers in spring found guests being able to relate to the subject. “It’s not easy for everyone to work with pastels. Aficionado’s have become discerning and think pastels do not equate to oils but it’s the skill with which Kanika has handled the medium that is commendable,” shares Harish Padmanaba.
“I’m an architect,” Ashish shares, “and this is my passion. Collage has been very special for me. You work eight hours at the desk and would assume you would not be inclined to go back to architectural forms. But I actually find a sort of relaxation in the use of architectural elements.
His search for direct constructive essence of architecture is captivating, the 3D collages intense and though not completely aesthetic, it’s a tracing of space in the mind of the viewer.
Ashish studied architecture at CEPT, Ahmedabad and graduated (in the year 1988) in Environmental and Visual Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A visiting faculty at Berkeley, he decided to return to India in 2000 and finally settled in Bangalore working with an architectural firm.
“It was Kanika who suggested we have an exhibition and this is our first show together. America gave a lot of impetus to my creativity,” says this professional black and white photographer who also loves jazz.
The art show is on exhibit till September 1 at Time and Space on Lavelle Road.