Retrospective of art and artist: Komal Gandhar on viewer’s eye

Walking through the magnificent Chhobi-o-Ghor art gallery to see an exhibition of paintings and sculptures named ‘Komal Gandhar (E-flat),’ which started on 15th December, the first thought that came to mind was of a figurative vocabulary that reminds one of the cultural heritage as well as the subjective and objective revelations about human life. The exhibition’s name, ‘Komal Gandhar,’ is distinctive in a way that cannot be expressed through words but a specific note in Indian classical music, equivalent to E-flat major in Western classical music. The exhibition comprising of veteran artists like Somnath Hore, Rabin Mandal, Uma Siddhanta, Ganesh Haloi, Niranjan Pradhan, Partha Pratim Deb, Shuvaprasanna, Ramlal Dhar, Sukti Subhra Pradhan, and Sohini Dhar resonates the sound of Komal Gandhar or E-flat which is often described as a highly majestic sound by maestros like Beethoven and Francesco Galeazzi.

Like the three flat notes in E-flat or Komal Gandhar, this exhibition is arranged in three rooms of the gallery. The white walls and spotlights overhead provide the necessary space for each painting and sculpture to create a deep reverberation in the viewer’s soul. For example, the first room, ‘Banalata’ named after the most celebrated muse of Bengal’s beloved poet Jibanananda Das, juxtaposes paintings by Somnath Hore, Rabin Mandal, Ganesh Haloi, and Shuvaprasanna.

The first image, Somnath Hore’s ‘Sitting figure'(1973), bears the brunt of the anguish and trauma experienced by the artist in post-colonial India. The Bengal Famine and World Wars had a profound and lasting impact on Somnath Hore (1921-2006). Inspired by German expressionists, it was Käthe Kollwitz who grew on him. So, instead of being mere symbols, the gashes on his white-on-white print turn into sheer darkness. Though, ‘Mother and Child’ (1959), painted before his joining as the head of Santiniketan’s graphic and printmaking department, depicts contrasting documentation. Here, the broad, calligraphic strokes of his brush dipped in ink, and the lightning sketches bring alive on paper the universal reality of motherhood. A few stark lines, for example, are all it takes for Somnath Hore to lend a spare sketch of a loving mother with his child- an epic universality.

Next, we come to two untitled paintings by Rabin Mandal. The first one is of a woman whose distorted physical traits symbolize the catastrophe of human life. It holds no surprises but the pall of gloom which is depicted through the red layers of oil paint and turned into raw and gaping wounds of dripping blood. The second is a human face where the subjective reality of bringing out the solemnity and secrecy of an existential crisis affirms an unspoken solidarity among the viewers.

The broad canvas which attracts the viewer instantly is a painting by Ganesh Haloi. Haloi has an extreme sense of oneness with the landscape, one of his deepest sources of inspiration. All of nature’s creations- trees, birds, and structures made by humans- live symbiotically with one another. They are so close in their communion that they can fuse with one another’s bodies to form the most fantastic hybrids. The untitled painting takes on an epic scale, not so much because of its size- 21″×13.5″- but because it weaves in a minefield of details obscured by absurdity to distill into a single image the oneness of the human life with its surroundings. This is a treat for the eyes and may compel the viewer to stand still in front of it for quite some time.

Paintings by Shuvaprasanna with acrylic and charcoal on canvas are luminous in their truest sense. ‘The Golden Flute’ depicting Krishna with his flute is a mirror of the enamored human soul; playing flute in the absence of his love hits the viewer hard once again with the musical note of the exhibition singing throughout. ‘Illusion,’ a flower with red petals on a blue background, evoke fascination toward natural wonders in the viewer’s mind.

In the middle of the room, the startling sculpture ‘Mother and Child’ by Uma Siddhanta, the first sculptress of modern India, tells of three generations of mothers. This work in bronze has a clay-like quality. The resultant form appears quite astonishing and exposes the tenderness of motherhood, genetically transmitted from parent to offspring, generation after generation. In the second room of the gallery, another feminine figure of ‘Lotus Mother’ by the artist is a personification of nature that focuses on the nurturing aspects of the natural world by embodying it in the form of a mother.

The ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape is carved beautifully by Uma Siddhanta in her work Resistance’. The motif is recurrent throughout the body of the sculpture. It is like a dream in bronze and provides the spectator with different perspectives from different points of view.

Sculptures by Niranjan Pradhan are masculine in their shapes and appendages. ‘Bull’ denotes the unwarranted pride of masculinity with a harmonious display of sharp, geometrically defined structural surfaces. In ‘Father and Child,’ his form is very much modern and flows as an extension of the European geometrical cubist mode. The root of his consciousness within his own soil helps him to foster his own identity developing modernity within his own heritage.

Coming back to paintings, Sukti Subhra Pradhan’s ‘Landscape’ is purely abstract art which is not dogmatic, nor is it decorative. Probing the apparent can nudge unsettling intimations in mind. Though, ‘I Am She’ is an entirely different composition. A woman, a companion of desire, has lost herself, whereas the lovers in the distant forest are lost in passion.

Ramlal Dhar’s paintings, ‘The Balcony’ and ‘Nature 19’ present serene compositions through expressive use of color. Both works are almost exclusively composed with different hues of blue, evoking the visual language found in much of the Der Blaue Reiter art movement of the West. The paintings create a feeling of poise and a sense of motion through their abstract forms and textures that appear to float upon the canvas as if suspended amidst a composition of music. It is clear from examining these works that reality remains transcended through Dhar’s symbolic yet captivating use of color and line.

Partha Pratim Deb’s artworks ‘Untitled-I’ and ‘Untitled-ll’ are influenced by pop art and Dadaism. His figurative drawings turn abstract as his quirky lines go for a roller-coaster ride at breakneck speed. His paintings presumably have a psychedelic shade in them.

Sohini Dhar’s works ‘Pangot VIII’ and ‘Mist’ represent a sweeping exploration of the land and its mysterious secrets. Through her artistic representation of nature, she brings to life both the richness and subtlety of the botanical world. Focusing on foliage and complex florae, her paintings reflect an immense appreciation for its beauty – both in sight and feeling. Her use of colors encourages viewers to ponder on the intricacies of nature while still being deeply moved by its multifaceted landscape.

View Komal Gandhar exhibition online click here.

 

The captivating compositions that makeup Dhar’s art portray an emotional connection with each piece, evoking revolutionary perspectives on space and nature alike.

The Chhobi-O-Ghor Art Gallery offers a unique opportunity to experience the artist’s entwining creations in harmony with their environment. Through this retrospective exhibition, viewers will be invited to delve deeper into the connections between painting and sculpture as they are united together through music with the note of E-flat or ‘Komal Gandhar.’ The beauty of this gallery is not only found in its paintings and sculptures but also in the way these works interact with each other, culminating in a symphony for visitors to enjoy. In a nutshell, Chhobi-O-Ghor Art Gallery (16 Lake Temple Road, Kolkata – 700029) provides an incomparable experience where creative expression and its environment create something much more significant than their individual pieces.