এক্ষণ / Ekkhan : Situating the Present
A Group Exhibition of Artists from Bengal
Aditya Basak, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Chhatrapati Dutta, Goutam Chowdhury, Jayashree Chakravarty, Partha Dasgupta, Subrata Biswas, Srikanta Paul, Tapas Biswas, Veena Bhargava
Exhibition Dates: September 6 – October 26, 2024
Venue: Emami Art, Gallery 1
Go, go, go, said the bird: humankind
Cannot bear very much reality.
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
TS Eliot, Burnt Norton
The works in this exhibition are deeply involved in the recent cultural and political atmosphere– many of them the artists are showing here for the first time – are the work of such deep apprehension of the time we live. Through their experimental approaches across media, in painting, sculpture, print, photocollage and ceramics, the artists grapple with the mercurial essence of the present time, finding a language of expression that allows the work of art to explain the sense of feeling that exceeds its immediate meaning.
Meaning is probably not what the artists are primarily concerned with, but time: an anxious, layered, and discontinuous time. The present they depict is not sandwiched between a past and a future. Instead, it is characterized as a moment of recognition, a temporal knot in which the memories of the past are entangled with the hope and anxiety of the future, which is proleptic rather than linear. The rich, durational experience of time variously finds expression in the show’s works– in Veena Bhargava’s montage of Ganesh Pyne’s photographs, the dense, fragmented brushstrokes and details in Chandra Bhattacharjee’s paintings, Chhatrapati Dutta’s visual reading of Shaheen Bagh, the layered overlapping imagery in Jayashree Chakravarty’s works, or the truncated ceramic human foot created by Partha Dasgupta, which connects the veneration sculpture of antiquity to the physical pain. Standing before a work of art is, therefore, standing before a time, and the time is apprehended not as a chronology – events in sequence, nor as the modernist triumph of the new, but as images of complex psychic, cultural and historical fluency.
Based in Kolkata, the artists show a deeper connection to Bengal and its vernacular cosmopolitanism. Far from being an effort to assert provincial identity, the artworks in the exhibition raise questions we associate with the whole of contemporary art, the new aesthetic imperatives for the world charred by violence, anti-eroticism and human indignities. Against classical modernism, which celebrates heightened subjectivity, autonomy and significant form, the artists want art to be a critical but fundamentally communicative medium that gives viewers access to reality and its meaning and feeling. In other words, the works show no shock of the new but slow maturation of the artists’ decadeslong practices shaped by the hybrid cultural atmosphere surrounding them and the ideas and dreams from elsewhere. Bengal is not understood as a locative entity; it is diffused in their work as an operative force of images, emotion and sensibility.
No central thematic concept binds the works together in the show. They would instead appear in the curated space in distinct positions with specific forms and attitudes, creating a constellation whose meaning is located in our experience of our times.
Arkaprava Bose
2024
Artists’ Bios
Aditya Basak
Born in 1953 in West Bengal, India, Aditya Basak is a contemporary artist based in Kolkata. He graduated from the Government College of Art & Crafts, Kolkata in 1977. He has held several solo shows at Akar Prakar, Kolkata (2008); Anant Art, New Delhi (2006); Art World, Chennai (2004). In addition, his work has been featured in numerous significant group exhibitions, "Continuity, Disjuncture, Creativity", at Akar Prakar, Kolkata; "Art of Bengal", at CIMA Art Gallery, Kolkata and many more.
He has participated in many art events, festivals, and workshops all over India. Basak was awarded the National Award for Painting (1984) and the Senior Fellowship from the Government of India (2000). Aditya Basak lives and works in Kolkata.
Chandra Bhattacharjee
Born in 1961 in West Bengal, India, Chandra Bhattacharjee is a contemporary Indian artist known for his contemplative figurative style. He studied at the Indian College of Art and Draftsmanship, Kolkata (1986) and Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, graduating in 1989. Bhattacharjee has held many solo exhibitions in various cities across India, including "Santiniketan" and "Veins of the Earth" (2023), "Night Forest" (2020), at Art Alive Gallery, Kolkata, "A Skyful of Chains" (2015), at Galerie 88, Kolkata. He has participated in many national and international workshops and curated group expositions. His latest group participations include "The Politics of Paper" (2022) at Emami Art, Kolkata, "India at 70" (2017) at Bangkok Arts & Culture Center and at Chulalongkorn, Thailand. Chandra was a resident artist at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi (2019).
He was awarded a gold medal from Rabindra Bharati University for his artistic excellence (1986) and the Taj Gaurav Award (2008). Chandra Bhattacharjee's works are part of major private collections in India and abroad. He lives and works in Kolkata.
Chhatrapati Dutta
Born in 1964 in West Bengal, India, Chhatrapati Dutta is a contemporary artist based in Kolkata. Dutta studied painting at the Government College of Arts & Crafts, Kolkata and University of Athens, Greece, and Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, graduating in 1990. He has been the subject of several solo shows, including at Tamarind Art Gallery, New York (2008); in "Objects Images Spaces" (2007) at Akar Prakar, Kolkata; "Bone Mill Tales" (2006) at Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata. In addition, his work has been featured in "Kali: Reverence and Rebellion" (2024) at DAG, Mumbai; "Freedom and Awakening" (2023), Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC) in collaboration with West Bengal Government, Kolkata, and many other significant group exhibitions.
He has participated in workshops, residencies, and seminars in India and abroad. Dutta received a Greek government scholarship for postgraduate studies at the University of Athens, Greece (1988). Chhatrapati Dutta lives and works in Kolkata.
Goutam Chowdhury
Born in 1951 in West Bengal, India, Goutam Chowdhury is a well-known painter based in Kolkata. He received a diploma in fine arts from the Indian College of Art and Draftsmanship, Kolkata (1974). He has been the subject of two solo shows in Kolkata at Birla Academy of Art and Culture (1988) and Gallery Charubasona (2020). In addition, his work has been featured in numerous significant group exhibitions, including "Kolkata: Run in the Alley" at Marres: House of Contemporary Culture, Maastricht (2022); "Art Bengal" (2020) at Gandhara Art Centre and Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi; "Indian Contemporary Artist" (2004), at HART Gallery, Beijing, China; "Calcutta 300" (1990) at Birla Academy, Kolkata, and New Delhi.
He has participated in many art events, festivals, and workshops all over India. He received the Silpi Samman (Lifetime Achievement Award) from the West Bengal Government, India. Goutam Chowdhury lives and works in Kolkata.
Jayashree Chakravarty
Born in 1956 in Tripura, Jayashree Chakravarty studied painting at Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan and M.S. University, Baroda, graduating in 1980 and spent a year in France as an artist-in-residence at École de' Art, Aix-en-Provence, between 1993 and 1995. She has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including ‘Unfolding: The Route Map of Experience’ at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) (New Delhi, 2021); ‘Wired Ecology’ at Akar Prakar (New Delhi, 2019); ‘Earth as Haven: Under the Canopy of Love’ at KNMA (New Delhi, 2019); ‘Unfolding Kuchinan’ at Akar Prakar (Kolkata, 2016); ‘If you will Stay Close to Nature’ at Vadehra Art Gallery (New Delhi, 2014); and many others. Her work has also been featured in important group exhibitions like Politics of Paper at Emami Art (Kolkata, 2022), ‘Abstracting Nature at KNMA (New Delhi, 2021); Carrying Roots Around at IIC (New Delhi, 2017); Tapis Moghal, Safar Nama at Indian Museum (Kolkata, 2014); Enduring Legacy: Show of Five Artists from Bengal at Galerie Neumeister (Munich, 2011) and Here and Now: Young Voices from India at Grosvenor Vadehra (London, 2007).
Jayashree Chakravarty won several prestigious awards and scholarships, including the Honourable Mention Award, Asian Art Biennial Bangladesh (Dhaka, 1997) and French Government Scholarship (1991). She lives and works in Kolkata, India.
Partha Dasgupta
Born in 1966 in West Bengal, India, Partha Dasgupta is a well-known ceramic artist based in Kolkata. He studied at the Government College of Art and Craft, Kolkata and Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan. Dasgupta has been the subject of many solo shows, including "AMRIT" (2015) at Maya art Space, Kolkata and "Immersive Infinities"(2022) at Artalive Gallery, New Delhi. He has participated in "Bhū / भू / ভূ: The Act of Becoming"(2021) at Emami Art, Kolkata; at Indian Ceramics Triennale, Jaipur (2018); the Raku exposition at Goseong, South Korea (2016) and many more group shows.
He has also attended several camps and workshops in India, the USA and South Korea. Dasgupta received the Lalit Kala Research Grant (1995) and the National Scholarship (1998). His three-decade-long artistic career works are in private collections in the USA, South Korea, Bahrain and the UK. Partha Dasgupta lives and works in Kolkata.
Subrata Biswas
Born in 1972 in West Bengal, India, Subrata Biswas is a prominent contemporary sculptor based in Kolkata. He studied at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, graduating in 1998. He has been the subject of two solo shows, including "Vitrified Terracottas and Bronzes of Subrata Biswas" (2020), at Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata, and "Constructing Innocence in Bronze" (2008), at Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata. Moreover, numerous significant group exhibitions have featured his work, including "Expression Contemporary Indian Art Show" (2012) at Modi Hall, New Delhi, "A GAPE" (2011) at Hacienda Art Gallery in Mumbai, and "Roots and Shoots" (2007) at Gallery Cork in London, U.K. He has also attended several camps and workshops across India.
Biswas received the Lalit Kala Prize for Drawing (2000) and the West Bengal State Academy Prize (2002). Subrata Biswas's works are part of major private collections in India and abroad. He lives and works in Kolkata.
Srikanta Paul
Born in 1971 in West Bengal, India, Srikanta Paul is a prominent contemporary artist based in Kolkata. He studied Painting at Rabindra Bharati University and Printmaking at MS University, Baroda. Graduating in 2001. He has participated in several group exhibitions in India and abroad, including "Past in Perspective" (2024), Akar Prakar Art Gallery, Kolkata, "Beyond Boundaries" (2023) at Ganges Art Gallery, Kolkata, "Dark Side of the Moon" (2022) at Gallery 1000A, New Delhi, "Sublime Transference" (2021) at Emami Art, Kolkata, "Transform" (2019), at Trondheim International Festival, Norway. He has been a part of many art events, festivals, and workshops in India.
Paul was one of the artists nominated for the prestigious Queen Sonja Print Award (QSPA) in Norway, awarded with a national scholarship by the Government of India (2001-2003). Paul lives and works in Kolkata.
Tapas Biswas
Born in 1972 in West Bengal, India, Tapas Biswas is a noted contemporary sculptor based in Kolkata. He studied Visual Arts at the Government College of Art and Craft, Kolkata, and Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, graduating in 2000. Biswas has been the subject of several solo shows at Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata (2010) and Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad (2012). In addition, his work has been featured in numerous significant group exhibitions in India, France (2011) and Sweden (2010): in "Fluid Boundaries" (2020), Emami Art Gallery, Kolkata; at International Art Summit (2007), Singapore.
Tapas Biswas has taken part in workshops, residencies, and seminars in India and abroad. Biswas was awarded a Junior Research Fellowship by Government of India (1998-2000), AIFACS award in 1998, and many more. Tapas Biswas lives and works in Kolkata.
Veena Bhargava
Veena Bhargava is a well-known artist who studied fine arts at the Government College of Art and Craft Kolkata, the Art Students League of New York, and photography at Chitrabani, Kolkata. She has held several individual exhibitions in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad, including most recently the "Memorializing Ganesh Pyne: Photographs and Photo Collages by Veena Bhargava" (2020), at Akar Prakar, Kolkata. Her work has been featured in "Fantastic Realities and Beyond" (2024), at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; “Response” at GEM Cinema, Kolkata, (2018); “The Golden Bough” at Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata (2017) and many more group exhibition in India and abroad. She has also worked in several interactive and collaborative artist workshops. She has been awarded for painting and drawing by the Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata (1972-74) (1981), and the National Award from Lalit Kala Academi, New Delhi (1986). Her works are in several public collections, including The Alkazi Collection, New Delhi, the Arts Acre Museum of Bengal Modern Art, Kolkata, the Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata, and many more. She lives and works in Kolkata.