Urban connotations

[1]

Urban landscape in India has been swiftly changing; towering skyscrapers, apartments and spacious malls have taken over most big cities and open spaces are far fewer in sight. To highlight the changes in urban parts of the country, gallerist and curator Atul Marwah has chosen the medium of art and selected the works of established and contemporary artists for his ongoing exhibition — Urban Art Show.

Speaking about the show, Atul mentions, “We want to showcase works of the artists, who are making waves both at the national and international platform. There are over 50 works on display ranging from that of veterans like MF Hussain to established ones including Lalu Shaw and Farhad Hussain among others, as well as young and rising contemporary artists like Tapan Dash, Barun Choudhury and several others.”
From abstract to mixed media, the exhibition reflects the realities of urban culture. Pratul Dash is one of the very few artists in India who are working through multiple channels, including painting, video art, performance art, photographic art, earth art, installation, and sculpture.
Talking about his work, Pratul explains, “My work is in 3D and it shows how square feet of space is directly proportional to social strata of the owner. The more the space, the more is the standing of an individual in society. It shows the mad rush of city dwellers to acquire more space.”
Artist Barun Chowdhury has always favoured realistic imagery, staying away from the abstract with the opinion that the viewers/the common man has a greater chance of relating to and identifying with the realistic images in his works.
He uses popular and kitsch images in abundance in a continuous endeavour to maintain an “Indianness” in his works. Barun informs, “I have used animal stereotypes to make caricatures of the varying attitudes of human beings. I generally like creating mutants, which are neither here nor there but always question the viewers. Through my works, I want to bring forth the message that reality is not what it appears to be, which is why my works always have a metaphorical implication.”
Kolkata-based artist Chandrasekhar Acharya, who is known for his figurative paintings, has come up with the garden series for the show. Speaking about his artworks, he says, “I have painted a garden series for the show in the gouache and tempara medium, that shows a young woman in a garden full of flowers, trees and natural bounty. Gardens and parks have become a rarity in the concrete jungles. So I decided to come up with a series on gardens.”