Varied styles of art in one exhibition

Art creates a world where boundaries of geography melt and reality transforms into fantasy. An ongoing group art show here breaches boundaries by tracing links between stylistically varied artists.

The exhibition titled, "More Than Human - beyond morality and individuality" is on view till November 5 at Art Explore in Hauz Khas Village.

"More Than Human is the inaugural exhibition that show cases a range of artists from seniors to emerging names," chief curator Georgina Maddox told IANS.

"The focus is to present the viewer with art that is off the beaten track and moves beyond the mundane. In the age of the selfie, art presents a point of departure, into a land of fantasy and mythology engaging and provoking the viewer," she added.

The participating artists are Gogi Saroj Pal, Pramod Kumar, Pallav Chander, Anjum Khan, Venus Thokchom, Shampa Sircar Das, Kanchan Chander, Ritu Kamat, Amith Das, Hifzul Sheikh Kabeer and Satadru Sovan.

"Each artist works with a certain sense of fantasy and mythology, albeit a contemporary interpretation of it," thew curator said, adding: "The show offers the viewer an escape into a world that is surreal and expressionistic, serving up serious concerns of urban apocalypse with a shade of humor and irony."

Artist Gogi Saroj Pal creates larger-than life portraits of women that fill the entire compositional space, bringing a new significance to the term Close-Up.

The gold-leaf backdrop adds to the opulent nature of this work. The face of the woman bears a haughty expression. In this other work Gogi has worked a delicate portrait of a fair-skinned girl, against and ornate gold-leaf backdrop.

"Art is the mirror of my thoughts and emotions and are therefore really close to my heart. Each art work portray the different expressions of women, Pal told IANS.

Kanchan Chander's series on Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is a tribute and wish fulfilment.

Hifzul Sheik Kabeer is known for creating mythical characters that draw on the art that surrounded him in his childhood in Jharkhand, that is known for its rich heritage of folk art and Gond paintings.

Kabeer described his works, saying: "They have been brought out of my childhood memories and the heritage that I am so attached with. Through my works I wish to take the spectators to a land of imagination and away from reality for a while".

Ritu Kamath's series, titled Journey in a Strange Land, talks of the flight into an unknown world.

Shampa Sircar Das, creates a dreamy art world where the four elements, earth, water, fire and wind are in harmony with mankind.

Satadru Sovan is a multi-disciplinary artist whose works deal with the world of fantasy that is created with the advent of social media like Facebook and Orkut.

Anjum Khan's Head 1 is part of a series where Anjum has focused on the modern city-bred Indian woman, who is young and fashionable with curly hair, alluring sun glasses and a direct almost challenging stare.

Pallav Chander's series Conquering Gold, is laced with the ironies of life.

Pramod Kumar is one of the young artist that we at Art Explore have talent spotted among the many students from the Delhi College of Art who have completed their Bachelors in Fine Art.

Amith Das's works were chosen since his works have an air of intrigue and selectivity about them.

Venus Thokchom hails from Manipur, a state which is filled with beauty and disquiet in equal measure.

--IANS

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