Art Konsult presents Atul Sinha’s functional sculptures

Art Konsult presents Atul Sinha’s functional sculptures

New Delhi: Art Konsult presents Atul Sinha: Space Beyond Innovation, a solo exhibition of wood sculptures by young and promising artist Atul Sinha from October 21, 2008 to November 10, 2008 at Art Konsult, 23, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi.

Atul Sinha is an accomplished and innovative artist who is adept at ceramics, glass etchings, wood, bronze and papier mache sculptures and has painted in oils, acrylics, gouache, water colour and inks, even using kerosene and diesel in his early works. His capacity to use different materials has given him a rare insight into blending matter with aesthetics. His forte, however, is sculpture and what makes him stand out in the crowd of young artists pursuing all sorts of fads is the fact that he has consistently been producing ‘sculpture for use’.

Says Siddharth Tagore, Director, Art Konsult, “The beauty of Atul Sinha’s sculptures lies in that he does not mass produce and each sculpture becomes unique in that sense. His sculptures can be used as tables, chairs, racks and lamps but they remain sculptures and one understands their aesthetic essence better by coming into contact with them. He has been able to transcend the fine line between art and design and the current exhibition showcases how successful he has been in this endeavor.”

While some art experts have criticized the utilitarian concept of art, Atul Sinha continues to seek gratification in the utility aspect of his sculptures. Explains the artist, “When I start working on a sculpture, I only attempt to collate my expeditions and artistic capabilities into three-dimensional figures. But on the same hand, I don’t object when my buyers decide to make use of it. My studio is not a factory which makes multiple copies of one entity. Each work has an identity of its own and is just like any other piece of art.”

Inspired by his diverse travels, from the stark landscapes of Spiti Valley, Leh and Ladakh, the deserts of Jaisalmer to the hills of Uttarakhand, Atul Sinha brings out the best in wood, gently nudging it into shapes that evoke recognition of images from those lands.

His work Together & Forever, showcasing the face of a couple from the hills, is symbolic of man-woman relationship which is the essence of life. Similarly, Embrace shows a couple holding hands signifying the recognition of the self & human form. Nostalgia of Infinite is a boat that highlights a man’s craving to travel to distant places. Each sculpture denotes a feeling of harmony and peace and brings out the synergy between positive and negative spaces.

The concept of utility-in-art goes back to the Bauhaus artists of Pre-World War II Germany who saw no reason why goods for use should not be aesthetically good as well. They were the forerunners of the concept of designer products and what we call lifestyle today. Atul Sinha has gone beyond them by blending aesthetics and use in such a way that art doesn’t become design.

Atul’s ceramic bottles are collector’s pieces today, his lighted sculpture is in The National Gallery of Modern Art , and sculptures for use are in the collection of the Village Gallery, Gallery Ganesha, Arushi Arts, Delhi Art Gallery, Art Konsult, Rahul Art, CIMA and the Kumar Gallery, to name only a few. Apart from the gallery collections, collectors from Germany, USA, UK, Portugal, Chile, Angola and Cuba have bought his works over the years. It is interesting that his major collectors are all who are known to interest themselves in original and innovative art.

His present exhibition reflects not only the aspect of learning the qualities of a work of art through using it, but also his insight into three-dimensionality and the integration of light and shadow, positive and negative space in it to create a unique environment around each work. That is why his work is best looked at by moving round it and observing its changing forms from different angles. To make this process more engrossing, Atul says, “I have evolved a repertoire of multiple textures, levels of treatment of the layers and grain of wood and figurative elements as diacritical marks to guide the viewer along the way.”

Adds Siddharth Tagore, “This exhibition of sculptures reflects the self confidence we have today in our expression and its relevance to the future. The works reflect not only innovativeness and originality, but also the remarkable continuity that the sculptor has shown, which is important for an artist to be worth collecting and investing in.”

These qualities of Atul’s have been recognized, as a result of which his art is known and respected among a wide range of connoisseurs and collectors. It is also an advance on his earlier work, involving many more elements that are marshaled together to give us a complex picture of life in a framework of space that is structured and yet in motion; of three dimensionality that becomes a two-dimensional concept; and of touch and feeling awakening to new areas of visual experience in the viewer. At the same time his art is iconic without being reverential, figurative without being topical and infused with liveliness without being gimmicky. This is why it has a future and a place in the ongoing saga of our contemporary art.