College of Art presents its 56th Annual Art Exhibition

New Delhi: College of Art, New Delhi presents its 56th Annual Art Exhibition bringing together a unique collection of over 2000 works by the students of Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA) & Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) from March 17, 2009 to March 21, 2009 at College Of Art, Tilak Marg, New Delhi. The exhibition, a much awaited event in Delhi’s cultural calendar, showcases paintings in oil, acrylic, water color and mixed media, drawings, posters, campaigns, layouts, display/packaging design and photography, sculpture in bronze/fiber glass/cement/stone/marble, ceramics and prints in etching, lithography, silkscreen, mosaic and weaving. The exhibition will be inaugurated on March 17 by Shri Tejendra Khanna, Lt Governor, Delhi.
Says Prof. Vijayamohan, Principal, College of Art: “The Annual Art Exhibition of the College is much more than a mere display of selected works produced during the year. It showcases the thoughts, the beliefs, the passions and the struggle of the students on road to creative self- expression. It is a summary of the various skills and techniques that they learn and explore throughout the year.”
The purpose of hosting the annual exhibition is to open avenues for the upcoming artists and give them the opportunity of experience, thrill and satisfaction in organizing solo/group shows in future or become capable curators. The exhibition provides a ‘spring-board’ for the essential professional/commercial exposure in order to broaden their horizons. No wonder then, not only do the works raise myriad issues of economic and political concern but also showcase the young artists’ sensitivity to environment and society. Issues like adoption, women’s emancipation, political turmoil, societal pressures, recycling, media, education all form a vital backdrop for the works.

Keeping up with past tradition, the Painting Department has once again produced works which are visually stunning as well as creatively stimulating. For example MFA final year student Megha Katyal’s work Weaving Self shows how Indian women constantly weave their life in the threads of social norms. The gloomy-looking face of a woman is deliberately done in tapestry and acrylic on canvas to showcase the constant struggle of a woman to balance herself as an individual in the restricted social structure. On the other hand, Megha’s junior Bharti Verma, BFA IIIrd year student, paints open windows, in her work tiled Pratibimb, to let the entry of blowing winds that brighten-up old memories. The window panes signify the transparent and illusionist reflection of our past. The contrasting background and foreground explains how everything else fades out in front of our bright memories. Akhil Arora (BFA IIIrd year) in his work Chess- the world’s Game attempts to reflect on the competitive world and our struggle to move forward in life. He believes that society is like a chess board on which all human beings act with a motive. Adarsh Sinha (MFA Final year) says of his work titled Indian Proverbs: “I paint building and monuments because the structures and the linear quality fascinate me. I also use Indian proverbs in my works through visual imagery.”

The exhibition also includes prints produced through lithography, silkscreen and etching. Mural, assemblage and weaving also form part of the exhibit. These works explore the realms of both realism and abstraction. Mosaic comes under 'mural' and is a traditional technique practiced from the medieval times and is still one of the popular mediums practiced by many of the 'muralists'. One can find very intricately 'tiled' colourful images on various topics like portraits, landscapes, still-life, interesting abstracts and large narrative panels. Students have displayed printmaking mediums by combining the traditional as well as modern techniques. They have produced excellent prints of various kinds with images from life around the city in its real and imaginative terms.

Sculpture specialization students have shown their skills and learnt techniques giving emphasis to figure drawing, portraits, creative compositions etc. Their creativity has found expression in stone, wood, glass, assemblage, metal casting etc. The subjects treated by these young sculptors at times also carry social messages. For instance, MFA Final year student Rahul Visaulia’s stone sculpture titled Jebkatra is an interesting socio-political work inspired from daily life. He explains, “I come across many people while traveling daily by bus and jebkatras are one of them. These jebkatras remind me of our politicians who are perhaps no less. My sculpture is, therefore, a message that it’s important to be aware of the surroundings for a prosperous future.” While Rahul keeps himself busy raising issues of social concern, the younger Daljeet Singh, a student of BFA IInd year, loves to indulge in his own fantasies and creates his sculpture of a dream bike titled Assemblege by using waste material.

Not to be left behind, students of Applied Arts department, too, have shown their skills in product design and social campaigns, graphic design, animation and illustrations portraying various issues like old age, adoption, impact of media etc, thereby, bringing awareness amongst the masses. For example, MFA Ist year student, Madhulika Thakur’s work SBI Education Loan provides a solution for those who want to pursue higher education but can’t afford it. She says: “I just want to spread the message across that money should never act as the hurdle of your career.” On the other hand MFA IInd year student, Aditya Sarkar opts to choose the most debated topic of credibility in Electronic Media. He explains “I wish to communicate that though every channel covers the same story but it is NDTV that appeals to me the most. The difference lies in the approach with which NDTV broadcasts its news to present a perfect analysis and massive depth in the story.”
Established in 1942, College of Art has nurtured many great teachers/artists/thinkers who have had the passion and vision to work for the development of the aesthetic aspect in life of the region. Their bond with the College is so strong that they come back to share their experiences. From amongst the alumni a few names from the vast list of those who have established themselves are Anupam Sud, late Manjit Bawa, Rameshwar Broota, Shobha Broota, Jai Zharotia, Amitava Das, Paramjit Singh, Sumedh Rajendran, Ashish Bagchi, Neeraj Goswami, Paresh Maity, Subbha Ghosh and Shukla Sawant.

This exhibition will also display work done by the senior students of Fine Arts from twelve other premier Art Colleges in the country as well as a special section dedicated to paintings, drawings and photography made by IIIrd year students on their various study tours. In addition, there will also be on display works made by College of Art students for the Sankalp Utsav in the Bhagidari mela that took place in February this year.

Says Prof Vijayamohan: “We have got such a good response to the students’ work from both the commercial and artistic community during our previous shows, that we have decided to provide further specialization to our students by introducing five new full-fledged courses from this year - BFA & MFA in Printmaking; BFA & MFA in Visual Communication and BFA in Art History!”