Minaz is a name associated with quality art, and has not disappointed art lovers so far. But this showcase of a budding artist scarcely lives up to that fame.
Introducing Shobha Palta to an audience is not at all a happy task. Her exhibition of oils on canvas and acrylic on silk and pencil sketches project a very poor grammar of copy art. Working on a range of subjects like polo matches and horses to landscapes and birds, she fails to display any kind of evolvement in her works. Having exhibited three times in Bangalore - at Chitra Kala Parishad, the Taj hotel and Gallery Color Court - and once in Lucknow, she has gained enough confidence to display before an audience.
But whatever be the length of her resume, one cannot dismiss the fact that Palta's art is an indulgence, which has never taken off beyond a hobby. A hobby that was barely guided or groomed, but one that is pulling off on the steam of her own enthusiasm. It is indeed nice to know somebody who besides being a housewife takes out time for the arts (she also happens to play the guitar), but putting up a display for the public is definitely a naive thing to do.
The range of horses or the polo scenes suggests Palta knows how to read the pulse of the market. After the success of M F Husain's brand, horses are the sure bets for any commercial artists. Therefore, she has a comfortable number in her stable to sell of her breed. The same is the case with her pencil sketches; be it the portraits or anything else, Palta has a long way to go if she intends to be noted as an artist. If her enthusiasm is the key to her confidence, then she can hope to do better if she sets herself up to hone her practice.
Her excitement to draw and paint a number of subjects should be replaced by her will to learn and see images in a proper proportion. Only then can she climb a step to be a 'copy' (replicating) artist.
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