Adult’s childhood: An acrylic on canvas by Sekhar Roy

Some modern artistes travel beyond the periphery of known objects, most of them being non-objective image-makers. Some others refuse to leave the original ground under their feet while indulging in creative deconstruction of identifiable forms to reveal their fluttering inscapes. Sekhar Roy belongs to the latter group. A remarkably deft delineator in the figurative tradition, he blazes a new trail by uncovering the strange yet entirely credible microcosmic world of human gestures. A careful look into his pictorial space makes it evident to the viewer that the human mind can be typically described as being uncomfortably hung between a romantic and surreal ambience, where full-bodied men and women are allowed a common emotional space of interaction without bringing to surface obvious sexual innuendoes. Often ,the space is split between hazily seen feminine and other forms stashed away in the background in juxtaposition with naturalistic figurations of birds, flowers, boats, growing trees and musical brass instruments — all envisioned by the ambivalent eyes of pensive young women standing in the close vicinity.

This is Sekhar Roy’s private world, beautifully structured by colours and lines and capturing dilapidated but mighty buildings, faces of favourite actresses alive or dead, and paper boats, the undying symbol of every adult’s childhood. The time-frame of Roy’s pictures is thus much larger than the physical dimensions of the painted space. On view till April 3 at Galerie 88, the exhibition has ushered in a brave new era of metaphorical art originating in the strictly physical world of objects and yet defying its conventional rules.

Akar Prakar is the venue of a charity exhibition of paintings, sculptures and graphics organised by the Compassionate Companions’ Trust in association with the Rotary Club of Calcutta Downtown. As usual, the proceeds, after paying the artistes’ share, will be used for “the poorest of the poor and animals in distress”. The idea, therefore, is to mix creativity and compassion with the social purpose some artists are believed to have at the back of their minds.

For the regular gallery visitors, however, the show provides one more opportunity to savour delectable specimens of pure creativity, coming as they do from a wide variety of visualisers of shapes and forms. Among those included in the exposition, Paritosh Sen, one of India’s seniormost artists, has a consistent record to show that he has always responded enthusiastically to invitations to participate in charity exhibitions. Not that there aren’t others, but Sen is the leading light in this area of benevolence.

Intriguing is the varied attitude of artists towards charity exhibitions, with some bargaining hard to get the most out of their deal with the organisers and others showing sensitivity to the altruistic aspect of the event. True, no artist works with the objective of producing visual images relevant to a social purpose. Nor do potential collectors of art objects offered for sale in charity shows come to pick up items that will depreciate in value or will only whet their appetite for compassion. They are the general run of people who may be buying cheap in order to sell dear as soon as the opportunity should arise. The typical charity exhibition is not very much different from other catalysts of commerce, except that the public participates in it with the satisfaction that a part of the money raised would help the cause of the poor. An interestingly drawn picture of a none-too-beautiful frog by Paritosh Sen may well serve that noble cause, much like a rugged-looking abstract sculptural piece by Janak Jhankar Narzari (or Ramkinkar Baij) may do the same. The event and its likes will at the very least serve as a reminder to artists that they are a part of the society to which they should have a moral commitment.

Trained at the College of Art in Virginia (USA), Shyamali Mitra had earlier held exhibitions of her paintings in the New World. Her current oeuvre, mounted at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, happens to be the artist’s first solo at home. The themes, transcreated in oil and water colour, speak of the artist’s visual journeys across the vast and landscapesque terrain of America, rich and varied in flora and fauna.

The openness of the terrestrial space, much of which remains out of reach of human dwellers, seems only to reflect the enormity of the firmament above. Shyamali Mitra’s work captures the many moods of nature in that faraway land of lakes and floating glaciers, the sun and the moon carving up the snowclad fields (Snow Shadows), the autumns, winters and springs in Virginia, as imaginatively as in her portrayal of a Peaceful Village of Red Indians. Mitra relies on academic modes of expression and technique to depict the serene exteriors of all such natural phenomena. But she selects her own visual frames and infuses a veritable music of colours into them when she seeks to interpret the innards of such pristine scenes. This, indeed, is the uniqueness of the artist.