NEWS & HAPPENINGS COMBINATION 3 BY PETALS From January 12 to January 18, 2006, the Nepal Art Council played host to the 3 rd exhibition of paintings and sculpture by four young girls who call themselves the ‘Petals’. Chandani Bajracharya’s sculptures were small in stature but creative in content. Although all of her works were done with terracotta, most of them, to a viewer, resembled works of marble. As <strong>is</strong> true for most works said to be ‘contemporary’, her dancing figurines too were of unusual and intriguing contours. Menuka Shrestha too <strong>is</strong> a sculptor, and her works, again using terracotta, were rather more earthly in hue and spirit, and many of them had an easy resemblance to worldly human shapes. Painters Renuka Maharjan and Arya Rajbhandari exhibited their series of works based on vastly different themes. Renuka’s waterfall compositions were refreshingly executed. Still, considering her subject - invigorating waterfalls, where invigoration <strong>is</strong> directly proportion to size - perhaps larger canvases would have had greater impact. Arya’s theme was of a religious nature and on exhibit were a score and more skillfully portrayed depictions of various gods, the stone images of which were the art<strong>is</strong>t’s source of inspiration. It was nice to observe that the art<strong>is</strong>ts seemed to be specially delighted by the purchase of some of their works by well-known Architects Rajesh Shrestha and Sailesh Gorkhali of Vastukala Paramharsh. Art <strong>is</strong>, after all, the foundation of Architecture! S METAMORPHOSIS-Perceptive variation Friday the 13 th <strong>is</strong> a day to be wary according to the w<strong>is</strong>dom of the ages, but th<strong>is</strong> did not deter Siddhartha Art Gallery from inaugurating an exhibition called ‘Metamorphos<strong>is</strong>’ on the dreaded day. Held from the 13 th to 31 st January 2006, the collection included nine sculptures by Gopal Kalapremi, ten canvases by Saroj Bajracharya and eleven by Sunil Sigdel. Kalapremi’s sculptures included the ‘Untitled’ series, of which ‘Untitled I’ was interesting, and a collection of masks called ‘Today’s Nepali Faces’. Although any of h<strong>is</strong> works would make for an appealing centerpiece, one comes away with the feeling that Kalapremi’s best works are yet to come. Bajracharya’s canvases had the touch of one looking to establ<strong>is</strong>h h<strong>is</strong> own identity and create something meaningful. ‘Hide and Seek’ and ‘Here and Gone’ were noteworthy and could show the way in the future to immediately recognizing h<strong>is</strong> particular style and thus succeeding in reaching self made goals. Sigdel’s ‘Metamorphos<strong>is</strong>’, a large sized rendering of the art<strong>is</strong>t’s conception of the title <strong>is</strong> stark in its statement but thoughtfully eye catching all the same. H<strong>is</strong> ‘Conversation Through Silence’ series also made for intriguing exhibits. However, ‘Time Hole’, a clever art work on half of an old door, was one of h<strong>is</strong> more alluring works on d<strong>is</strong>play. S TIBETAN CONTEMPORARY PAINTING From 5 th to 11 th January, Siddhartha Art Gallery was the venue for ‘Contemporary Paintings from Tibet’. On d<strong>is</strong>play were handiworks of Awang Zaba, Bama Haxi, Lup Lun Zhang, Han Shuli, Dezheng and Gade. On entering the gallery doors, v<strong>is</strong>itors were aptly treated to a 90 x 135 cm canvas of ‘Zhou En Lai and Nepali Dancer’ by Awang Zaba. The ground floor of the gallery had exhibits of mostly sedately coloured canvases while the first floor had on d<strong>is</strong>play more vibrantly conceived paintings. Nevertheless, the almost pastel hued 91.5 x 64 cm canvas titled, ‘Himalayas’, by Han Shuli, was the centre of attraction for many of the almost hundred strong throng that had come to attend the inauguration. The nicely curved peaks flowing onto one another made one wonder, ‘perhaps the Himalayas are meant to impart a loving message of harmony instead of being a prize to be won.’ Also on the ground floor, a 94.5 x 69.5cm canvas, ‘Blank Door’, was just what it claimed to be-a blank rectangular opening surrounded by the faintest of motifs. Many of the paintings had religious themes and perhaps it <strong>is</strong> true that even simply titled ones, including those on the first floor, like, ‘Rooster at Dawn’ , ‘Bull King’, ‘Love Song’, ‘Shepherd’ and ‘Bird Festival’ could have some underlying mystic<strong>is</strong>ms. A vivid series, variously titled, ‘Tibetan Customs’, ‘Young Shepherd’, ‘Girl from Linzhi’, ‘Mother and Child’, ‘Girl’, and ‘Family’ d<strong>is</strong>played a profusion of startling red pigmentation while the ones featuring women proudly highlighted amply endowed assets of the female form. Prices of the paintings varied from US$ 650 to US$ 5480. S 18 MAR-APR 2006 SPACES
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