Genesis Retold

Delhi based artist Tapan Bhowmik recently exhibited his works at the Lalit Kala Akademy, New Delhi. His works raises complex questions regarding the human existence, in this review, Dr.Vaishali Sharma says.

A state of flux generated by a vibrant brewing of the brightly colored particles depicted in Tapan Bhowmik’s recent canvasses thrusts me into a void wherein I am haunted by a complex question of human existence-who am I? The silhouetted human figures seem to join me and make the canvass titled ‘Reflection’ the quintessential of this quest. We together ponder and ask ourselves, ‘are we a mere conglomerate of particles, the organisms flashing in and out of existence?’ The question resonates in our minds but there is no answer! Instead the artist takes us along in the maze of his own queries weaved with the perspectives of philosophy, science and spirituality.

The artist astutely renders the silhouetted human forms devoid of any character specifications that could have trapped them into the worldly subjective patterns and interrupted their meditative trance. For thematic interpretation, the pure and simple human forms are juxtaposed with elements of nature, like flowers, petals, leaves, twigs, stars and moon. Even the Buddha’s wordless transmission of knowledge took place in a context: meetings, bodies, eyes. The artist minimizes the emblematic framework as if he has been influenced by the current buzz word ‘nano’. He chooses to represent his insights in the simplest way possible-stripped of references, proofs and arguments.

The textural quality employed by the artist imparts fecundity to the apparently flattened surfaces. In Tapan Bhowmik’s canvases the existence of the human race recapitulates the archetypal story of the emergence of form from void and its dispersal in void. Whatever the rationale of the artist’s mind, the harmony, simplicity, diversity, creativity and chaos build out of his paintings continues to mesmerize me.