An artist's choice

It is a celebration of art and the human form. Accla­imed artist Mukesh Singh is set to exhibit his paintings of the female nude in different postures, and sculptures of male figures at Ravindra Bhavan.

It will be the first time that art aficionados get to see the painter and sculptor Mukesh Singh together in one exhibition.

Mukesh was born in Mathura – the City of Lord Krishna, an easy explanation to his marvelous paintings and sculptures. He was passionate about art right from childhood, but his father insisted on him being a doctor.

Mukesh fled a medical coaching institute in Kota to join the Lalit Kala Sansthan in Agra. He completed his Bachelors and subsequently Masters in Visual Arts from here and also, did an M.Phil. in Sculpture from Mangalayatan University, Aligarh.

Mukesh says, “In my Bachelors course, we were made to take up various forms of art – commercial, computer designing, metal/fibre/wood/ cement casting etc..
By the time I reached post-graduation, I was sure I wanted to get into sculpting – my favourite medium of art.

During my final year of my PG, I took up an Indonesian artist as the subject of my dissertation and saw his beautiful female nude sculptures. They were so aesthetically done and beautiful, I decided to put them on canvas. That is how the female nude paintings happened.”

Each of the women in different postures indicate different moods and the vibrant colours used to paint them add to their sobriety.

“A lot of research went into understanding the different postures of women and how best to portray them without making it vulgar. It had to meditative, contemplative in nature, not vulgar or loud.”

The male figures are in high-relief sculpture - 2D installations which can be hung like paintings.  In fibre glass with metal finish, they have been named variously as per their expressions - Dreamer, Urge for, Gaining strength, Aiming high etc.

Mukesh says, “I feel the male and female figures will together provide a perfect harmony to the exhibition. They are symbolic of the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual heights of a human being.”

Ask him which proves tougher – painting or sculpting, and he replies, “Both are mediums of expression for an artist. Some emotions are better depicted in painting, while others better in sculpture. It is all about which one the artist chooses. There is an artist in each one of us. It only depends on us on how we wish to discover ourselves.”