The female figure has never failed to inspire artists over the years as many mavericks have tried their handy strokes on canvas, expressing the various aspects of the subject.
In an exhibition titled The Feminine Form, 10 established artists from India and abroad have come together to showcase their own interpretations of the mystical female character — while expressing, on their chosen medium, the vivid characteristics such as gentle and strong, coy and bold, pampered and hardworking, compassionate and merciless, quiet and loud, sober and merry, calm and fiery.
The 10 participating artists include Ajay De (Mumbai), Samir Mondal (Mumbai), Gautam Mukherjee (Kolkata), Rajesh Srivastava (New Delhi), Rini Dhumal (Baroda), Bharati Prajapati (Ahmedabad), Shankar Kendale (Bangalore), Senaka Senanayake (Sri Lanka), Raja Segar (Sri Lanka) and Shiva Sanjari (Iran).
Each of these artists has their own inimitable style of painting; and has highlighted different aspects of feminine behaviour. Ajay, for instance, has a mastery on charcoals on paper, with just a hint of acrylic paint, hence his portraits are gentle, pensive and extremely expressive. Ajay had also held a recent exhibition titled The Japanese Girl — which, he said, was “dedicated to his wife (a Japanese).” “The feminine form and cultural aspects have always inspired my work,” he said.
Bharti’s figures, on the other hand, are more stylised and bright, with beautiful textures on oil. While Gautam’s art works are grounded in the traditional Bengali culture — evocative of the Badralok, featuring women with almond eyes, languid movements, stylised clothes and ornaments; Raja’s is a “refractive style”, wherein he showcases women as workers, plucking tea, nursing children and feeding birds.
Senaka captures a dancer’s grace with his acrylic paints and inks; and Shiva presents the French tradition as her feminine forms have a Western slant and sophistication of the European world. Rini, however, showcases the divine form with powerful devis.
