Pulak Ghosh’s Entanglement

The exhibition, Figure in Nature, conceived by Birla Academy of Art & Culture in variegated figural renditions of contemporary visual art, was a response to the rapidly disintegrating and alienating existence of man amidst nature.

With works of 54 artists on display, the exhibition conveyed diversified formal and contextual approaches throughout the gallery space — ranging from realistic forms like Ajoy Banerjee’s Two Beauties, Kazi Nasir’s Silence IV and Subhendu Sarkar’s Ecstasy, to more melted visual imageries like Dhiraj Chowdhury’s Moonlight in the forest, K. Muralidharan’s Airabada and Sutanu Chatterjee’s sculpture, Untitled, to mention a few.

One particular work that deserves special mention is Pulak Ghosh’s Entanglement. Here the artist successfully creates a narrative imagery through an interplay of bright colour of the centred beauty and the entangled mass of black and white textured crane-like birds.

Tarun Ghosh’s Figure in Nature seems to emanate from a fantastical realm, while in Biswajit Mondol’s Love Story, the existence of the forlorn man seems to resonate in muted silence. On the other hand, in Bhaswati Das’s Nature, dotted existence seems to pervade through Nature’s blissful domain.

In keeping with the mood, Sunil Das’s Sweet Song in bronze portrays nature’s slumberous state, reinforced by the elongated stature of the sleeping muse. Santanu Chatterjee’s Untitled, a transcription in wood, with emerging organic carvings suggest a kind of totemistic relationship between man and Nature. Rajib Mondol’s Saheb aar Memsaheb in wood makes a sarcastic comment on the societal existence of man.

With too many works on display, one couldn’t help but note that a more careful selection could perhaps have made the show a more meaningful one.