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An image of a man created with tiny pictures of guns and bullets. Pictures by Rashbehari Das
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Terrorism, human rights, locked-out factories, stress and suffocation in a plastic world — artist Sougata Das’s work is all about contemporary issues. His first solo exhibition, Scream, was inaugurated at Studio 21 on March 8. The exhibition will be on till March 30.
Inspired by Edvard Munch’s iconic The Scream, Das has tried to use the theme in a modern context. Like his subjects, his medium too is contemporary — aluminium foil pasted on the canvas with silicone gum, and metallic acrylic paint.
“This medium is quite unique. I think I am the only one in the country using it at present,” said the artist, who is also a faculty at Government College of Art and Craft.
Das has earlier experimented with meenakari and bidri craft. The 18 exhibits at Studio21 have a heavy influence of meenakari work. “I wanted to produce the metal-craft effect. Aluminium foil and acrylic paint helped me get the desired lustre and hue,” he said.
Some of his artwork involved cutting aluminium foil into tiny images and pasting them on the canvas. “Ďt took me over an year to get ready for this exhibition,” he said.
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One of the works at the Studio21 exhibition
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One of his creations, Fanatic, is especially striking. It is an image of a man created with tiny pictures of guns and bullets. The effect may be that of intricate meenakari in blue, but the theme is quite violent. “This is about terrorism. A terrorist is nothing but a fanatic with violence in his blood. Hence he is embodied with arms,” explained the artist.
In yet another interesting work, Unlimited Talk, he depicts the image of a cell phone with human faces as its keypad.
In Uncooked, he presents a gas cylinder studded with tiny images of fruits, vegetables and fish. “With restriction now imposed on the use of LPG, we will soon have to start eating uncooked food,” added Das with a laugh.
Lockout depicts closing of factories through a bright image of a lock, while Decomposed shows life in a rotten state, both mentally and physically. The issues are grave, but their depiction is colourful.
“Indian art was narrative in the past. I too have tales to tell, but am doing so in my own way,” said the artist. Das has already started working on new themes for future shows.
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