Mosaic

Water and color together on paper transform into those transparent layers with 
images emerging almost with a mystified lightness. Artists since time immemorial 
have chosen this medium to extend their painterly languages and create spontaneous 
silhouettes and shades on paper. For, watercolour has the quality to spread evolving 
into a form, or move generously along the brush of the painter. The medium is 
an absolute take-off point for any painter to develop an individual artistic vocabulary. 




"But, unfortunately, this is the medium most neglected by the mainstream contemporary 
artists, who take to either oils or acrylics, including mixed media, for their 
creative process," opines curator Atiya Amjad who aims to ensemble a 'Mosaic' 
of watercolor pictures by different artists. The present exhibition shows many 
artists who've taken to watercolors at a young age only to continue, for the medium 
seems to engross them deep into its quality of dreamy featheriness. On the other 
hand, many artists, based on the exercises in watercolour painting, have branched 
off into various other mediums. 



One generic aspect that every artist feels is that watercolor not only guides 
you into the language of painting, but also remains an ever enchanting medium 
for a creative language - seemingly simple and yet enticingly difficult in technique. 
The present show comprises of works of over 20 artists from Shantiniketan and 
Hyderabad who make an attempt to glorify the possibilities and in-depth graces 
of the medium of watercolor. And so is the approach of the viewers who look and 
feel the medium of painting, rather than concentrate on the individualistic artistic 
traits. 



One could discern a delight in these works. Artists like Ambadas Mohorkar, Sachin 
Joltare, Farahad Tamkanat, Sarkar, Sirajiddin and Laxman Aley, among others, explore 
those romantic graces in depicting nature-based landscapes, realistic figurative 
images, or even flora and fauna, while other artists like Sudhir Kumar Dupatti, 
Srikanth Kurva, Mohan Malvya and Srikanth Dhunde explore the contemporary possibilities 
in handling images through watercolors. Binoy Koley, Anir Ban, Mira Balabrahma, 
Subhajit Das, Sankar Mandal were other artists from shanty Niketan who showed 
their expressive works in the medium. 



One rare painting of a yesteryear artist, T K Mukherjee, who studied painting 
in England over a century ago, is a delicate example of watercolor painting. His 
daughter brings this painting that adds altogether a different horizon, to the 
present exhibition. Titled "A scene At Ranchi", this painting shows a man sitting 
at a riverbed surrounded by trees.