DREAMS ON CANVAS

The Bengal village has given us one of the outstanding creators in BIKASH PODDAR, says Subhra Mazumdar.

The way to the residence of artist Bikash Poddar, through one of the localities tucked behind commercial spaces of the capital city, is a far cry from his art leanings. Being surrounded by the hustle and bustle of daily living, with neighbourhood housewives clustered in front of their doorsteps, toddlers milling around, and men picking their way through vegetable vendors, corner shops and children at their street games, one would be led to believe that his art output would carry an impact of this phenomena.

Yet his creations belie such circumstances, and instead offer a palimpsest of country living, opening up fold by fold, on his canvases. Hence at the first encounter with his practice, the viewer is taken aback by the spread of calm landscapes, depicted with soft brushstrokes, in the style of Chinese wash works, by way of comparison.

While the high-pitched exchanges carries on intermittently outside, one is struck by the spruce and well-ordered studio space, from within which, this slightly built, middle-aged artist, has been offering up his stunning creations. This curious contrast between his artmaking and his work environment, according to their maker, finds its muse, in his childhood upbringing in Kaliyagunj, a remote village in the Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal.

And like any average rural set-up in the countryside, the study of Fine Art as a scholarly pursuit, was an unknown phenomena in these places. In fact, confesses the artist, Bikash Poddar and his kin did not even know about the existence of an art institution for learning art and seeking admission into it, was nothing short of a chimera.