Ganesh Haloi (left) and Lalu Prasad Shaw at the exhibition. Picture by Aranya Sen

The Society of Contemporary Artists began its golden jubilee celebrations a few months ago. The very first show was nothing to write home about. However, the current show at the Birla Academy of Art & Culture makes up for it, if not so much by way of quality, but definitely by way of quantity.

The exhibition covers three floors of the institution. The most senior participants were born in the 1920s or the next decade, many of them in former East Bengal. So while viewing it one feels as if history is unfolding before one’s eyes.

Many of its eminent early members have either dropped out or have died. So as one browses through the innumerable art work, one feels how the hand of death has snatched some very talented members. Bikash Bhattacharjee and his mentor Arun Bose and later, Shyamal Datta Ray are gone.

So is Dharmanarayan Dasgupta, who died before the art boom began. Of late, we have lost both Somnath and Reba Hore. We discover that Meera Mukherjee, too, was a member as we come upon two of her sculptures. This a living art history lesson. However, not all the printouts providing information on the participants were legible. This marred an otherwise well-organised exhibition.

Significantly, there has been an effort to restore some damaged art work, although it is not known whether the restorer did his job methodically or not. So a damaged Bikash Bhattacharjee work, cleaned up recently, is on display, and so is another work created collectively by Society members.

The sculptors such as Manik Talukdar, Bimal Kundu, Ajit Chakraborty, Sunil Kumar Das, and Niranjan Pradhan are all well represented. Sarbari Roy Choudhury’s bronzes are a class apart. Although many of the local artists are not members any longer, their works are there. Manu Parekh still is a member, although he had moved to Delhi decades ago. The presence of art critic Pranabranjan Ray comes as a surprise.

It is difficult to miss Bikash Bhattacharjee’s mysterious painting of the torsos being heaved up by waves (in picture). There are some strong Shyamal Dutta Ray watercolours like the one of the king’s statue being uprooted from its pedestal, an image which has a resonance for our times. It is a pity that Dharmanarayan Dasgupta is not seen any longer. He had great sense of structure which he never abandoned even when he explored dreams. His drawings are some of the finest works in this show.

Ganesh Pyne was once a member and his familiar paintings and a graphic print are on display prominently enough. These are from a private collection. Ganesh Haloi’s image of a group of boys on a raft in a pond is quite different from the landscapes we are familiar with.

Katayun Saklat displays a still life, and Aditya Basak contemplates on death and destruction. B.R. Panesar’s rarely seen collages are also here. Dipak Banerjee is the only artist whose work is fraught with tantric symbolism.