Tapas Konar at work at the art camp. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Art camps were never known to have produced masterpieces. Their duration is usually short ? too short for artists to work as they would really like to. Moreover, not every artist would like to work in a public space, where one can expect onlookers and the curious to stop and stare.

Therefore, the works produced could be a mere shadow of an artist?s original vision.

Yet, camps are ideal places for artists to find out about each other and for exchanging ideas and comparing notes.

This is one of the reasons why Mumbai-based publishing house Popular Prakashan held a four-day art camp at ITC Sonar Bangla, beginning October 19. Publisher Harsha Bhatkal said though he loves art he did not know many artists. So, he has organised four camps over this year, some at exotic locales in Turkey and Sri Lanka.

?This is the precursor to publishing books on art. Thereby, one can find out what the reader wants. Had we published in isolation, it would not have been possible,? said Bhatkal, who is in town. They have already brought out a beautifully-produced book with drawings and writings of Satish Gupta. Another one, handwritten by Paritosh Sen, is in the pipeline.

The large exhibition space at the hotel was packed with artists and their canvases. Many of the better-known artists of Bengal participated. Senior ones, like Jogen Chodhury, Suhas Roy and Paritosh Sen, had decided to work at home and later hand over their works to the organisers. Jayashree Chakravarty worked in the privacy of her hotel room. Dipali Bhattacharya said a sculpture is what she would give.

All the artists worked with acrylics on canvas. Although their works were not complete on Monday, one could get an impression of how their works would turn out to be.

Splintered bodies, like the victims of a bomb blast, floated all over Tapas Konar?s canvas. Sunil De?s canvas, with a limited colour scheme, was dominated by circles and calligraphic flourishes.

Pradip Rakshit?s canvas was contemplative by nature. He had used brushwork and a spray gun to produce the effect of a sheet of dark water. Aditya Basak?s work was built around a large head. Ashok Bhowmik produced a symbol of torture ? a drawing of a trussed human form that he had painted over.

A linear female form was Samir Aich?s contribution, albeit from an unusual angle. The only artist who made any pretense of using modern technology was Prashanta Shaw of Santiniketan. He had reproduced a scanned image of a male torso with paint and brush. The only artist outside Bengal was Subhash Awchat of Mumbai.