Open Window can justifiably claim to have mounted an entirely delectable collection of drawings by 10 of its well-known members, now on view at the Chitrakoot Art Gallery. Senior artists like Janak Jhankar Narzari and Hiren Mitra have thrown in specimens of their recent work capturing the elan of rectilinear and curvilinear rhythms. Dipali Bhattacharya has imaginatively juxtaposed an ornate housegate against a pensive feminine face whose brow is seen to bear the semblance of a tiny portal to her inscape. Pradip Rakshit brings to surface what is hidden in orderly concepts. The two other artists whose works successfully elevate the original genius of the linear idiom to the fulness of painting are Sunil De and Tapas Konar.
Samir Dasgupta
Sangeet Research Academy celebrated Holi on March 8 by presenting its scholars’ rendition of traditional bandish under Girija Devi’s direction. Besides, Kathak exponent Malabika Mitra presented some Holi compositions. The inaugural Bahar- Dhamar by Sumana Gupta was followed by a remarkable duet in Basant where Maitreyi Ray sparkled. Rupam Sarkar’s expertise in top-khayal, chorus Misra-Kafi thumri and folk were praiseworthy. Piu Mukherjee, too, deserves mention. After Krishna bandana, Malabika, with her troupe, presented an experimental composition based on Basant-Dhrupad. The meend and mood of the raga was expressed through well-synchronised body movements. Malabika portrayed herself as the lovelorn nayika and abhisarika.
Anuradha Sanyal
Mousumi Mutsuddi’s paintings are important from several angles. Not only do they bear testimony to a self-taught artist’s steadfast progress towards the making of a personal aesthetic idiom, but her current oeuvre, on view at Chemould Art Gallery, also shows a visual transition from basically abstract designs to basically figurative feminine expressions embellished with decorative patterns. In some instances, such patterns prove to be more than decorative and serve to highlight the inner gestures of femininity. It is also a notable attribute of her pictorial constructions that even the non-representational configurations are charged with the elan vital of embryonic forms and shapes. The series has been named Mati (soil) to underline simplicity, which is the virtue of the young woman as a symbol of Mother Earth. Mousumi makes judicious use of folksy motifs in her work.
SDG
