Visitors at the Lalit Kala Akademi regional centre in Bhubaneswar enjoy the works of celebrated painters such as Arpana Caur, Arpita Singh, Vasundhara Tewari and Fatima Ahmad. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 16: From misery to mischief, various facets of women have been showcased in the works of some of the most celebrated women artists of the country at the Lalit Kala Akademi regional centre in Bhubaneswar. These paintings and graphic arts are on display at the ongoing exhibition titled ‘Gender Sensitive’.

The works of the likes of Arpana Caur, Arpita Singh, Vasundhara Tewari, Fatima Ahmad and many others, have been have brought here from the permanent in-house collection of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. Be it the thought behind the art or the technique, these paintings and prints surpass the perception of the viewer, exploring realms beyond the usual.

There are two oil paintings by Arpita Singh. Figures and flowers — her 1972 painting captures the viewers’ eye for its amazing expression of planes and dimensions.

With bunches of flowers at the corners of the canvas, and her trademark chairs and figures of people, Singh uses everyday objects to reflect on a deeper sense of surrealism.

Her other work Flags shows images of flowers, flags and a farm entwined together to create a dreamy piece of art.

A 1986 ink and pencil print by Vasundhara Tewari, titled Dream and Reality, is one of the most intriguing pieces at the exhibition.

The artist has shown two worlds in her visual expression. One in which a human being succumbs to pleasure and force and another where it experiences freedom from every attachment.

Eleena Banik’s Ganga Avataran, a work with oil on canvas, has presented the river Ganga as a deity filled with mystic powers. Childhood memory by Sabia is another oil painting where a young lady reminisces her childhood joys of sailing paperboats. V. Anamika’s two-part series on Nagaland is a touching composition, where the canvas transforms into a field of red stripes and a collage of newspapers reports the condition of men, women and the political and social conditions of the state.

The exhibition has seven graphic works including a remarkable colour intaglio by Rini Dhumal.

There are 31 paintings including acrylic and oil paintings and a few mixed media compositions. Koumudi Patil’s The Moon Slipped into a Blanket on a cold Gangtok Night with cottony clouds, woollen tacks and paper creates a fascinating imagery of the title.

Visitors making rounds of the gallery are enjoying the works of Anita Kulkarni, Fatima Ahmed, Lata Lahoti, M. Shanthamani, Sobha Broota, Shubhra Nag and many others. “It’s a wonderful experience to be able to see the works of veteran artists.

“Specially, paintings and graphics made between sixties to eighties have a special charm,” says Shubhra, an art student.

Artist Ramakrishna Vedala, regional secretary of the Bhubaneswar centre of Lalit Kala Akademi says the exhibition is a step towards encouraging women artists in the state. “Very few women artists come to limelight from the state.

These works of the past and recent years by artists of repute have been displayed in form of this exhibition to encourage the upcoming female artists,” he says.

The exhibition that began on February 4 will move to the Chennai regional centre after being concluded on February 20.