VP: Verses,Paintings

For a Prime Minister who served a term so short yet so eventful,late Vishwanath Pratap Singh's personal side hardly came to the fore,much less his poetry and art.

Exhibition highlights the artistic side of late Vishwanath Pratap Singh

For a Prime Minister who served a term so short yet so eventful,late Vishwanath Pratap Singh’s personal side hardly came to the fore,much less his poetry and art. It was students who staged the most vociferous protests of the self-immolation kind during his regime against his decision to implement recommendations of the Mandal Commission. And it is students tooof Fine Arts this time who have chosen to pay a glowing tribute to VP Singh,more than the former PM,the artist and poet. An exhibition titled ‘Painted Verses’ was inaugurated on Tuesday by Governor BL Joshi at the State Lalit Kala Akademi,Ekta Vihar,Aliganj displaying,besides the work of five artists of Arts College,Lucknow,some sketches and poems in Hindi and English by the former PM.

Aryan Gallery of Delhi is in possession of the collection of sketches and poems by VP Singh. We coordinated with them and over a period of three months we created paintings and sculptures to juxtapose with his sketches and poems in this exhibition, says Pawan Kumar,one of the artists whose work is on display.

Besides the chance to view the fresh ideology of the youth translated into artwork,it is a rare opportunity to get to know the poetic and creative side of the former PM and an aristocrat,who otherwise came across as stoic and phlegmatic. There are sketches made with pen or water colours and poems framed and displayed.

The exhibition showcases the talent of students/pass-outs of Lucknow University’s College of Arts and Craft,including Pawan Kumar,who has participated in exhibitions of Lalit Kala Akademi,portrait competition of Jawaharlal Nehru University and Shivalay Art Foundation of Varanasi. Here,he has displayed some interesting abstracts. Water colours by Sanjay Kumar,recepient of Kashi Ram Award of the SLKA,have shades of ancient Indian classical art. Sculptors Parul Srivastav and Ashish Mohan (winner of Best Artist Award at NIC,Puri) have put up some thought-provoking work such as a tea stall on a wooden bench and a set of small charpoys to depict the life of a common man,while Krishna Kumar’s portraits of men and women are striking in an abstract manner. Charcoals and water colours by Sudhir Shukla are fetching too. The exhibits are also up for sale in the show on till September 20,11AM to 7PM, daily.

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