Fine Prints

Bhattacharya could not take up art full-time because of his job. “I was working with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. And there are always restrictions with a government job,” he says. But now that he has retired,Bhattacharya is ready with his first exhibition in the city.

Titled “God and His Creations”,Bhattacharya will display around 35 paintings and sketches at the exhibition to be held in Ark Art Gallery. The event is a joint exhibition with artist Ivan Gomes whose works are based on the theme of “Life: An enigmatic cliché”.

Bhattacharya says that his work could not have possibly fit into one theme or definition. “I am used to working with different mediums and on different subjects,” he says. That is why he called his current collection “God and His Creations”. “That way,it can include anything and everything,” he says. Bhattacharya has been awarded at several state and national-level events. He has also published a book of poetry titled Arpan in 1997. Citing legendary artists such as Raja Ravi Varma,Jamini Roy and Nandlal Bose as his inspirations,Bhattacharya — who has no formal training in fine arts — says that his father has been his greatest role model. The late Ajit Bhattacharya is known to have been instrumental in popularising the now-famous wood carvings with tribal motifs in Bastar.

Even though Bhattacharya works with watercolours,oil colours,clay modelling,wood carving,fabric painting,paper crafts and pastel work,his favourite still remains the sketches done with a super-fine Rotring pen. “There are the kind of details that I can accomplish with this simple medium,” he says.

The exhibition is on till July 7