Works of 168 artists at Lalit Kala Akademi exhibition

Art works of 168 artists from different parts of India are to be displayed in an exhibition here that begins March 20, the organisers said Wednesday.

The 55th edition of Lalit Kala Akademi's annual exhibition "National exhibition of Art" has put together works of different medium: oil and acrylic on canvas, stone and bronze sculptures, charcoal paints, etchings and ceramic artwork. The exhibition ends April 10.

Apart from this, the Akademi, a government institution that promotes and develops Indian fine art, has also chosen works of 10 artists for their prestigious National Award for 2013.

These awards will be conferred Thursday.

Among others, artist Manoj Kumar Mohanty for "Dust Cleaner", Mohammed Ayazuddin Patel for "Bijapur Heritage", Nongmaithem Nandaraj Singh for "Great Dictator", Rajesh Kumar Singh for "Struggle in Life" and Sumana Som for "Dramatic Dream" will each receive Rs.100,000 cash prize, a plaque and a certificate.

All these works were chosen by a screening committee.

"The works in the current exhibition merit attention on account of their challenging content, epitomizing creative features, individual commitment, discriminating quality of methods, materials used and more, so that the exhibition becomes a true representation of the dimensions of contemporary art thinking nationally," Ramakrishna Vedala, secretary, Lalit Kala Akademi, said in a statement.

According to K.K. Chakravarty, chairperson, Lalit Kala Akademi said: "The exhibition lends extraordinary meaning to ordinary objects by associating them in unforeseen permutations and combinations, in simultaneity and fusion."

"It builds bridges between the corporeal and incorporeal, figurative and non-figurative, to express the inexpressible, and to communicate a sense of urgency for diagnosing and curing the radically fractured human condition," he added.