Bengali artist Debabrata Biswas is best known for his dynamic artworks of horses in various mediums, but his ongoing show at The Gallery Café is vibrant in a different way. Titled ‘Nostalgia’, the series of sketches and mixed medium works are a fine addition to the calm of the café.
A Bengali connect
The 42 year-old artist, who holds a Masters in Fine Arts, recently attended an art camp in Birbhum, West Bengal, and was instantly captivated by the simple beauty of the people.
In the eyes of many, the settlement of Santinitketan was teeming with history for its intrinsic connect with Rabindranath Tagore who modelled the small town; travellers have helmed Santiniketan as an ideal place for meditation while historians and educators revered the placed for around notions of humanism, globalism and sustainability. While some works are sketches, others are ink on paper and others are soft watercolours on acid-free paper.
The works on show reflect Biswas’ appreciation towards the place, especially through his use of acid-free paper which is largely used as a medium to make artwork last longer. “Some of the places in which I grew up were like this, featuring both nature and community. So I took photographs of the areas around the art camp because I wanted to replicate the detail of the foliage and the construction.” These fine details can be found in his ink on paper works in the series. Some of the pieces have divine figures in natural surroundings, alluding to the spiritual connection Biswas feels with Birbhum.
The hues of greens, ochres and blues in ‘Nostlagia’ are also worth noting, given the language is a lot more peaceful than that of his galloping horses works. Additionally, Biswas has made use of small surface areas here to account for the intense detail he displays. “It makes sense for the horses works I previously did to be larger than life, but these are more calming and detailed,” he points out.
Future projects
Given that Biswas has settled into the bustling flurry of Hyderabad, he is working on more local projects around architecture and heritage. “The Seven Tombs, Golconda and other heritage monuments are something I really want to capture in my own artistry. I see myself using a lot of ink on paper because of the details in these structures and I want the colours to portray the very old ages of these places,” he concludes.
‘Nostalgia’ by Debabrata Biswas is on till June 7 at The Gallery Café, Banjara Hills.