Shuvaprasanna – Recent & Retrospective

                  The changing colours of the autumn season bring forth the fall collection. Within this seasonal milieu a retrospective exhibition not only presents a broader perspective for the mind’s eye but probes the discerning viewer to re-engage upon the now and then. A mélange of ominous creatures consisting of crows, cranes with swan-like beaks, a few appearances of a cat, dog or donkey together with the serene still-life renderings of flora and buzzing butterflies in lively colours gives the viewer an ideal ambience to encounter familiar objects and life forms on a two-dimensional support format, but with a different appearance and sensuousness. Alongside with the re-contextualized imagery the politics of the urban surroundings are documented as representations of the societal changes that the artist has witnessed over a long period beginning from the 1960s. Shuvaprasanna (born 1947) studied art at the Indian College of Art in Calcutta and subsequently embarked upon his professional artistic voyage in the 1970s. The retrospective hosted by Emami Chisel Art covers almost his entire oeuvre, giving a glimpse of the examples within the vast array of creations during this long phase. The show comprising of more than 100 select works is an assortment of his various explorations of new themes, mediums of delineations culminating in different forms of expression. Besides the paintings, drawings, graphic prints on two-dimensional support bases, an added feature in this show is the opportunity to view some delicate sculptures and ceramic items which the artist has made exclusively for this special exhibition. In his large canvasses of his later period the essence of urban reality has been passionately addressed through the density of human presence in the dwellings inherent in the lanes and by-lanes of his favourite city. His love for portraiture has been manifested in the faces of important personalities whom he has admired or looked up to during his lifetime. His most recent works celebrate the ideological perspective and his angst with regard to his social concern of which he has been an active participant. Besides these there are the works which invoke his love for the union and severance of life, a kind of lila that he invites the viewer to share with him. Taking liberties from iconographical canons he constructs the Gods and Goddesses while referring to his known spaces. His belief and engagement for life in all its multi-layered aspects from his own memories and the yearning for love and righteousness has been his emblematic portrayal of almost all his image renderings. A well-researched insight with regard to the works included in this show have been documented in the book – Black, Brown & the Blue, published with respect to this retrospective which has travelled from the important cities in India throughout the entire year. A fitting tribute to a person who has strived hard to fulfill the roles he had embarked upon.