BHOPAL: Forty artistes from different parts of the country have rhapsodized about tree and nature through the works they have displayed at Modern Art Gallery in Bharat Bhawan in the city.
The rhyme of rain and that of pellucid Upper Lake behind Bharat Bhawan have added an out-of-the-ordinary rhythm to the works.
So, the 11-day exhibition which has begun Tuesday has been aptly named ‘Vriksha’. It encourages an art-lover to listen to the breathing of nature, especially to that of a tree and appeals to him to plant a sapling daily to save the world.
The artistes have portrayed through paintings, photographs, drawings, sculptures, printing and ceramic works how a tree is connected to human life and how it should be saved.
Arpita Reddy’s acrylic work, Kalpavriksh, shows coexistence of different elements of life in nature. A painting, showing parrots and monkeys playing on branches of a tree with jewelled leaves, conveys the message of live and let live.
Arpitha told Free Press, “I belong to Hyderabad, but I have been in Bhopal for 11 years. I have studied in Hamidia College and Barkatullaha University. I have been imparted training in various forms traditional art.”
“The painting is about how a tree protects ecosystem. I have opted for traditional style while working on it,” she said.
Similarly, an oil painting ‘Bones Prayer for Tree’ by Aparna Kaur combines the urban traditions with those of the ones that trace back to history.
Ten Inkjet print works of Jyoti Bhatt which were completed between 1986 and 2019 tell Indian folklores.
Besides paintings, sculptures and ceramic works catch everybody’s attention. The finesse that the works come up with displays the deftness of the artiste. A stoneware work ‘Shalabhanjika’ of Vipul Kumar is so vivacious that, it seems to an art-lover, that she would talk to her admirer. The work shows female energy that embodies nature.
Vipul who is from Rajasthan said, “It took three months to finish the work that was put on 1,280 degree Celsius to give that finesse. “His porcelain work ‘Leaf’ is about magical linear that remains in leaves of a tree that binds various elements of life through the four seasons.”
Shampa Shah’s porcelain work Night Flower, Seema Kohli’s bronze work Tree of Life, Sonia Sareen’s bronze work Aikatmya, Keshari Nandan’s stoneware platter Forest Rhymes and Manjari Sharma’s stoneware delineate nature in various forms. As soon as one comes out of the exhibition hall, one sinks into the thought of the present world which is slowly turning into a bleak house covered with poisonous smoke. Yet, the artistes wake everybody up to the call of Vriksha, the tree.
