“INCREDIBLE LIFE STYLE OF INDIAN BABUMOSHAI” Solo Show of Paintings by Pintu Paul at Jehangir Art Gallery

Characterised by "gentle" characteristics and western education the rise of Bhadralok in the 19th century reflected changes in the nature of Bengali identity and subjectively. The colonial experience led to concern of Bengal elite to define for themselves a social class that would delineate their nobility and shape a new code of acceptance.

Artist - Pintu Paul

The "Babu" were associated with this new class of Bengalis eager to adopt Western manners and learn that they formed the bulk the workforce needed the cosmopolitan enclave of Calcutta Babumoshai enjoyed a style of life in common and was conscious of Its existence as a class organised to further its ends. The prototype Babu was one whose attire was a variety of English and Indian, claiming to be taught English and flaunting his status in society.

The title "Babumoshai was added as a prefix or suffix to a person's name to recognize (wealthy) Indians who had provided service and assistance to the British in establishing their commercial and political base in India. Raja Nabakrishna Deb of Sobhabazar Rajbari was first known 'Babu' from Calcutta. The rise of Bengali Babu(or Babumoshai) as a social class was mainly due to trade and Enterprise in British colonial Bengal.

BABUMOSHAI IN LONG DRIVE

Post 1857, we witnessed a change in the way these Babus were represented in popular domains. The young Bengali babu was presented as a cartoon character, a ridiculous fusion of East and West, wearing a Dhoti, coat and hat, wearing a monocle, carrying an umbrella and smoking a cigar. I tried to depict their lifestyle in this exhibition.

Kapil, Kapil, Kapil Alaskar

Born in Kolhapur, India, in 1991, Kapil is a young master artist whose work explores the intersections of identity, memory, and human experience through pencil, charcoal, acrylic, and oil color. His series, STIMULATION, delves into the raw truth of egotism, drawing inspiration from the intricate sculptures of the Khidrapur temple in Shirol Taluka, near his village. Kapil believes nudity is in the mind of the beholder, and through the nude human form adorned with animal masks, he probes the depths of sensuality, sexuality, and the evocative essence of the female. These masks, embodying animal behaviors veiled by human faces, reveal primal instincts beneath our exteriors. His process is intuitive yet deliberate, beginning with expressive sketches that evolve into vibrant, textured paintings pulsing with lines, colors, rhythm, and desire. Each artwork is a discovery, a question, and an invitation to see the body as a profound source of connection. Rooted in Indian cultural heritage, Kapil’s art builds bridges between perspectives, celebrating the sensual as a universal language.

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Summer Tips 25, an exhibition of works by 11 Artist. curated by Abhijeet Gondkar.

 

The predominantly artist audience, gallery members and collectors intermingled with the artworks. Tathi Premchand is well known for the prolific social and cultural research that informs his art, most notably for his works which explores the destruction of green spaces.  The exhibition begins indoors, under the eaves of the gallery where visitors can view pdf montage, simultaneously broadcast stories told by the exhibition’s nine interviewees. Snippets of individual histories intermingle with one another and then, windswept, fade into the very landscape of Viraj Naik’s etchings. In Vasudev Shetye’s Yin Yang two female figures stand  apart from each other looking at the viewer. The viewer’s gaze travels first to the left, where a traditional Goan woman stands in a pretty red dress, a hand fan, wearing a small crucifix pendant on a chain. The figure that stands next to her is masked, unsightly with sharp teeth, wearing an armature that is soiled and dirty from use. The figure on the left is a well groomed person who embodies etiquette and sophistication while the figure on the right is a rebel.

The narrative, never didactic, evolves as you focus on a particular work. Past merges with the present through Nilesh Shilkar’s deft handling of expressionist color and sculptural forms. He is an abstract artist whose merge of form and content is a tour de force.  Ratnadeep Adivrekar’s Cross-stitch (F12 = -F21) Opposites are two perspectives of the same situation. Warhol’s Batman Dracula pits the Caped Crusader against the vampiric Transylvanian count of legend, the millionaire vigilante who seems to fear nothing but bats against the immortal. If Prashant Salvi can recall the animal in a person, he can also bring out the “humanity” of animals. In addition to his own, touching nature study, in an uncharacteristic fluency. It is rare to see a modern painter of animals unconcerned with their symbolism and marveling instead in their sheer physical presence. Questioned about the erotic potential of his subject matter, he responds that “the paintings that really excite me have an erotic element irrespective of subject matter.” As with earlier work, we are flying, floating, or dreaming through hyperconsciousness or maybe all of these at once. References to explosions, ecstasy, are well established elements of Kapil Alaskar’s vocabulary, as is his ability to deliver this iconography with masterful, exquisite clarity. The surface of the painting is a statement in itself– his signature The process of creation holds as much value as the result.

Transcending the early influence of European Abstract Expressionism, KT Shivaprasad explores the relationships between reality and illusion Shivaprasad painted a series of female nudes and later, portraits of villagers in natural environs, which soon became more abstract than figurative .inspired by   the great British modernist Lucien Freud his work has won national and international acclaim. Even in the most unexpected encounters with the beautiful, however, there coexists some component of déjà vu or strange familiarity. To call that experience universal or transcendent performs a ritual act of devotion. It protects the preciousness of one’s beauty experience in a shell of coherence. I think there are strong arguments for beauty’s historical and cultural breadth based in our neural and biologically evolved relation to the world, but arguments for artistic practices built on that foundation often flatten the peculiar and specific details that give artworks their life. The universalizing description also overlooks the work’s character as a rhetorical object, subject to unanticipated uses within the culture. It draws people toward clichés and reductive stereotypes that are then rationalized as truths and archetypes. The exhibition concludes on 26th May you can view the works on Nippon Gallery’s website thereafter.

Nippon Gallery
30/32, 2nd Floor, Deval Chambers, Nanabhai Lane,
Flora Fountain Fort, Mumbai -400001 Maharashtra – India – Plant Earth
Tuesday – Saturday,
3.00 pm – 7.00 pm

“Form & Flow” A Group Exhibition of Paintings and Sculptures by 4 well-known artists in Jehangir Art Gallery

 Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai, is hosting a group show “Form and Flow” featuring 4 painters and 2 sculptors from the south. This show is being conducted from 20th May 2025 to 26th May 2025 in the Auditorium Hall of Jehangir Art Gallery. This exhibition engages the visitors with the diversity of styles, themes and mediums and highlights the power of contemporary art to provoke thought and evoke emotion. 

Painter Radha Parthasarathy, is a professor at Government College of Fine Arts, Kumbakonam. Her set of paintings called the “Drifting Hues” series, symbolises the flow of life through an aerial view of the shore landscape with boats dispersed to portray life. For her, the boats depict the uncertainty of life. She correlates it with the way her life flows – completely uncertain yet beautiful. There is a sense of calmness that makes the deep silence resonate from within. The aerial view helps us admire the beauty of life from afar with different colours.

Mr. Satheesh Kumar Mani is a sculptor and a professor at Government College of Fine Arts, Kumbakonam. As a person who was always fascinated by various sportive events like Jallikattu, Football and Handball – his works serve as an expression of the inbuilt inclination towards these sports and mythological stories and the butterflies represent the immense happiness he feels for the same. 

 Mr. Thirunavukkarasu, is a painter who aims to depict women engaging in dance, classical arts, music as nature cityscape. This abstract expression showcases his deeply routed love for the Indian Culture and also are deeply evocative. Sculptor B. R. Ravi, is the principle of Government College of Fine Arts, 

Kumbakonam. The theme of his sculptures circles around nature and various components of it. 

His works done in copper sheets, captures and celebrates the subtle nuances of nature Painter Velmurugan expresses the theme of depicting cows with moon. He claims to be influenced heavily by the work of Jackson Pollock and Mark Brandford and works with Textures as a tactile expression to bring his works to life. The feel of these textural elements transcends him to a state of emotional connection with his paintings and also to the viewers. 

 Mr. Muthu Krishnan is a surfacing artist in the animation industry. His works revolves around his personal admiration towards animals, birds, women and agriculture – which he represents using traditional aesthetics as a fantasy for his visual world. With not just 1 or 2 but 6 different themes, this show promises to be a visual treat for all the viewers and also serves as a great experience to interact and learn more about each and every work.

Press Release From: From 20th to 26th May 2025

 “Form & Flow” A Group Exhibition of Paintings & Sculptures By well-known artists 

Radha Parthasarathy / Satheesh Kumar Mani, 

Muthukrishnan, Thirunavukkarasu

 P. , Ravi B. R., Velmurugan V. 

VENUE Jehangir Art Gallery 161-B, M.G. Road KKala Ghoda, Mumbai 400001 Timing: 11am to 7pm Contact: +91 9884247182, +91 8754572315, +91 9443193095