‘To experience art, change your perception’

Nagpur: It was a thought-provoking session for the art enthusiasts in city as they heard the analysis of Indian art history by renowned artist Ashok Bhowmick, who is also known as the master of cross-hatching. Under the banner of Bhau Samarth Memorial Lecture 2018, Bhowmick spoke about ‘Resistance in Art’ and how the mindset of painters changed throughout different eras, at Rashtrabhasha Bhavan, on Sunday which was also the World Art Day.
According to him, the minds of Indians have been conditioned in a way that they strongly lack the ability to view a picture with an open mind. They pre-determine the meaning behind the picture, draw inferences with a stereotypical thinking and associate the picture with a completely different concept.

Focussing on the issue, he said, “If you see an attractive blue flower, you will associate it with the Dalits and ignore the other factors. Similarly, the seven colours of rainbow are overshadowed as we link it to Indradhanush which means the bow of Indra (God of rains). This is how you fail to notice the creativity, precision and beauty of any piece of art. Your brain has been trained to work this way, it dominates your perception and doesn’t let your mind grow.”

The influencers and people in authority hundreds of years ago used painting to fabricate an image of India which goes hand-in-hand with religion, political rule and patriarchy. Later in the 19th century, there came pioneers of modern Indian art like Rabindranath Tagore and Amrita Shergil who brought revolutions through with their artwork and portayed the true picture of Indian society, highlighting the common man instead of kings and Gods.

Answering an interesting question as to how should a layman understand the indepth meaning of a painting, Bhowmick said, “You don’t need to understand a picture, you should experience it. If the artist had a story to share, he could’ve become a storyteller. Just observe the master piece and admire the finesse as one artwork can be perceived in different ways by different individuals. He may not the view it in the same sequence which was followed by the painter while creating it. So allow the art to touch your heart in various ways that it can.”