Art Blogazine

Monday, 18 August 2025

Time Suspended: The Quiet Power of Pradip Maitra

There is a quietude that permeates the canvases of Pradip Maitra—an arresting stillness that neither demands attention nor relinquishes it. Born in 1959, Maitra has spent decades cultivating a language of painting that resists noise and spectacle. Instead, his works exhale a soft, unhurried breath, inviting the viewer into moments of introspection, memory, and emotional resonance. Educated at the Indian College of Art & Draftsmanship in Kolkata, his foundational training in academic realism is ever-present, yet his treatment of form transcends formalism.

Artist: Pradip Maitra

Maitra’s visual grammar leans into solitude and silence. Figures appear enveloped in soft shadows or emerge from textured fields, suspended between presence and absence. In this delicate tension lies the artist’s power—each composition acts as a portal, leading viewers into quiet territories of thought, longing, or even unresolved grief. There are no grand gestures, no overt narratives. Yet the emotive weight of his paintings lingers long after first viewing.

His works, often rendered in subdued tones and layered textures, mirror the layered nature of inner life. Light is never simply illumination; it becomes metaphor—of consciousness, of divinity, or simply of time slipping through the cracks of daily existence. In a world that celebrates immediacy and volume, Maitra’s paintings return us to the slow and the essential.

Over the years, his art has found home in discerning collections across India and abroad, appreciated by those who value subtlety over spectacle. Each painting is not merely an object of beauty but a space for contemplation—a moment suspended in time, quietly powerful, and profoundly human.

Artist represented

by Aakriti Art Gallery

Address: Orbit Enclave, 12/3a, Picasso Bithi, Mullick Bazar, Park Street area, Kolkata, West Bengal 700017, Phone: 033 2289 3027

Sunday, 17 August 2025

“ANISOTROPIC” An Exhibition of Paintings by 3 well-known artists from Andhra Pradesh in Jehangir Art Gallery

A group show that depicts non uniformity in unity .

various styles , emotions and ideologies come together as one narrative !

Anisotropic, where non-uniformity meets uniformity, a heartfelt event group show of 3 artists from Andhra Pradesh. Anisotropic is more than just an art exhibition — it’s a beautiful reunion of us !

Raki Rao

RAKI, or Rama Krishna Donga, a Chennai-based artist from Palakol, Andhra Pradesh, will showcase his Fusion Art at the ANISOTROPIC group exhibition at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, from August 19th to 25th, 2025. Self-taught but mentored by stalwarts like Ankaiah and Sri Rajavelu, RAKI has 40 years of experience, including assisting a well-known South Indian artist and associating with prominent groups like Guntur Pandavas and Kalapeetham of Andhra Pradesh. His artistic career, which began in 1985, later evolved to include modern abstract styles, blending cubism with traditional themes. This unique style, characterized by a symbiosis of modern techniques and a traditional foundation, is referred to as Fusion Art. RAKI holds a Diploma in Painting from SDKK College of Fine Art, Chennai. He has served as Vice President of the Tamil Nadu Arts and Crafts Improvement Association (2017-2019) and Cultural Secretary for Andhra Pradesh & Telangana State at Sri Dharshini Group of Institutions (2018-2019). He also founded the VAPA-BAPU Art Association. RAKI has earned 16 awards in major South Indian competitions and participated in over 35 exhibitions.

Boddeti Suryanarayana

Boddeti Suryanarayana is a retired Drawing Teacher. He has been producing wonderful paintings and works of Art. He is well-known all over India and also abroad. He has won several awards both at state and national level. The style of his art is realistic and deals with the lives of the Primitive Tribal Groups.

Boddeti Suryanarayana goes back to his boyhood days when he spent his days among the PTGs, as his elder brother was working in the Girijan Co-operative Corporation, Visakhapatnam District located in Paderu, Chinthapalli and Aruku Valley. His keen observation of their lives became the subject of his art of painting. He is a unique painter because nobody has touched this subject so far. His experiences of his early days with the PTGs brought him recognition at the national level and resulted in getting awards and name and fame.

The tribal communities in the Visakha Agency have a rich history, marked by unique cultural practices and distinct social structures. These groups, including the Bagata, Kotiya, Konda Dora, and others, have traditionally inhabited the hilly and forest regions of the Eastern Ghats.

The Khond, Porja and Gadaba are identified as “Primitive Tribal Groups” (PTGs). They depend on Podu cultivation, forest produce collection, carpentry and black smithing for their livelihood.

Mr.Boddeti Suryanarayana mingled with these Primitive Tribal Groups to study their life style. His paintings emerge out of his realistic study of their day-to-day life.

Diana

Ms. DIANA , from Andhra Pradesh, is a passionate Educator, writer, art therapist, and folk artist with 24 years of experience in the field of Art. She is a multidisciplinary artist who practices a unique Art form called the Deccani scrolls which is quintessential to Andhra and Telangana state , where she grew up ! Her vibrant works—encompassing textiles, murals, natural stone and clay colors , and community-based installations—reclaim indigenous and matriarchal histories.

She is a versatile artist who has done immersive residencies on batik from Indonesia , natural dying from Mysore and ceramics from chennai .Through intricate clay vessels, vibrant batik tapestries, and plant-based dyes, she explores themes of cultural motifs and environmental connection. Additionally, she has completed an art therapy course and conducts successful therapy sessions for individuals and corporate clients who need help with depression and anxiety .

Currently, Diana works at KIDS Central High Cambridge International School, where she is deeply committed to fostering community connections through art.

12th to 18th August 2025

“Meditative Echoes”

An Exhibition of Paintings by Dinesh Kumar Parmar

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VENUE: Jehangir Art Gallery, 161-B, M.G. Road

Kala Ghoda, Mumbai 400001,Timing: 11am to 7pm

Contact: +91 8830708819

Monday, 11 August 2025

The Symbolic Language of Artists | Sweety Joshi and Sanjay Sawant

There’s no limit to how forms emerge in art — through lines, colours, or the stroke of a brush. By soaking a cloth in colour and pressing it onto paper or canvas, or even by burning the paper itself. Sometimes it’s about pouring colours across the surface, or dipping fingers — or any object — into colour and spreading the pigments. Or through some other method — the forms appear; they are brought to life. But a technique, however inventive or unconventional, truly bears fruit only when the artist uses it as a means of genuine expression, of search or exploration—not merely as an ‘experiment’ for experiment’s sake.

Dadiba Pundole | Sweety Joshi and Sanjay Sawant

In the works of the artist duo Sanjay Sawant and Sweety Joshi, the first thing we notice is precisely this: the forms and abstractions have emerged from a deep penchant for exploration, an instinct to ‘seek’, expressed in different ways—from burning paper to soaking it. These are not contrived ‘experiments’, but are ‘utilisation’ of various approaches, to churn the mind, memory, thought, and understanding, often in response to a sudden instinctual spark. These emerged organically in the course of creation, so they carry feelings and substance.

Sanjay Sawant: Letters That Never Arrivedb in painting, our first attempt to recognize, make sense of, or appreciate any artist’s expression is usually through the forms or images they create—or rather, that are created ‘through’ them. The artworks in this exhibition suggest that the methods or techniques Sanjay Sawant has used to bring forth these forms are, in themselves, revelations of the very essence of the works. They reveal that these methods were used to reach an inner stir, a swelling of emotion, some subtle ‘wound’ or sensation—captured with remarkable precision. That is what makes these works feel so honest. They impart some subtle realisations, certain sensibilities, layers of awareness.
Here, the search isn’t merely for the lost or undelivered letters—metaphors for memory itself—but also for those memories that were never fully registered. There’s an unmistakable sense that in the rush of modern life, if we never reconnect with our inner self, we risk losing much—perhaps the very essence of what it means to live. And what, after all, is the essence of life? To savour and appreciate beauty, to nurture sensory experiences, and when we are wounded, to pause, reflect, examine, grapple with it, and evolve. In these works, the use of mixed media is like a net cast wide—to catch bhava sthitis—the shifting tides of feeling and emotion. The droplets, perforations, textures, and the soft hum of colours carry echoes of our times, of bygone memories, and hopeful, spirited raginis that are yet to be heard.

Sweety Joshi: Lines That Weave Time and Space Sweety’s lines weave and entwine time and space in their own unique rhythm. With these lines, she seems to embark on a journey through emotional terrains, marking the halts and transitions along the way. Her lines reflect a deep, immersive commitment to her craft. And the ‘books’ they have created —veiled in indistinct forms hiding ‘letters’. These signs seem to invite us, suggesting that by engaging with them, we can also compose and read our own books. As we engage with her work, we find ourselves reading two texts at once—one before us, and the other nestled quietly within us. These inner texts, awakened by her works, encourage us to reveal their truths.

Another notable aspect in both Sweety and Sanjay’s work is the fragility of the material itself. Their materials are delicate, almost ephemeral—so soft, so breakable, they seem to say: “Handle with care, I might crumble at your touch. Observe us gently.” Of course, we know every effort has been made to strengthen the artworks and make them durable—but the look of the material evokes a softness, a sense of fragility. Because of this ‘look,’ a layer of sensitivity settles within us—somewhat fluid, somewhat crumbly, somewhat delicate—and it subtly alters our usual way of seeing. We must also speak of the beauty present in these works, a beauty that is wholly their own, not superimposed. As a result, our perception/appreciation of that beauty is of a very different kind—intimate, unforced.

Sanjay and Sweety’s creations reach out to the viewer with a deep sense of familiarity and warmth. One reason for this sense of closeness is the way the narratives—expressed through their forms—gently touch us. They awaken something unexpected within us, stir something forgotten. It feels as though something had gone missing from our midst, and now we too must search for and reclaim it. As we view these works, something tender, lilting and compassionate stirs within us—we begin to see the works, and ourselves, anew. Some human essence—some quiet truth—begins to awaken and expand within us once more.