Portrait in Pencil

It had been a while since I last made a drawing and so I pulled out this magazine I had set aside. It had a few photographs that had caught my attention. I had picked up the The Peak while holidaying recently, in Kota Kinabalu, expecting to make some drawings at the airport. I never got around to it then but it came in handy tonight.

In these past 20 years since I left school it was usually a portrait photograph in a magazine that caught my attention and compelled me to sit down and draw it. Or a photograph of a friend. Either the smile or the angle or just because I liked them something would set it off.  This didnt happen often maybe once every 3-4 years.  Off late I use mostly my own photographs to copy because of all the problems associated with using others references.

But without doubt there are some exceptional photographs that tempt you and ones that I’d never be able to take. These I set aside to learn from, to try and take my own photograph from a similar angle or with similar lighting. I have yet to do that though. I’m a pack rat and a very good one at that.  You should see my collection!  However if the urge is strong sometimes I just give in and copy. And  95% or more of what I do is put up either in these blogs or Flickr.

Sadly, this was not one of those exceptional ones though I did like his smile. It was late at night, I was already in bed and determined to draw something anything. That very smile looks a bit manic here but that’s mostly to do with my drawing skills. I’ve noticed that my current favourite is painting and drawing has been put back on the shelf.  I hope I can get back to doing both.

Listed on Gawker Artists

There has been a lull in my painting life after the excitement of the Colombo Art Biennale which took place in early September.  Most of the time has been spent moving in to our new home, settling things in and then in the midst of it all a 3 week break!    Got back earlier this month raring to go.  There’s still a bit of clearing to do before the Studio can be considered to be ready.

A while ago I had applied to Gawker Artists and was delighted to hear from them yesterday that they’d accepted my entry and listed me on their site.

Gawker Artists is a curated online art community and exhibition program promoting the works of artists of all media. Participating artists receive profile pages on Gawker Artists and are eligible to have their works published in the ad space on Gawker Media titles and included in Gawker Artist sponsored exhibitions. All participation for artists and exhibitors is free.

Currently there are 1,108 artists listed by them and there’s a form for submitting your art if you are interested.  Gawker Artists is a part of Gawker Media.  And Lifehacker and Gizmodo, both sites that I’ve been following for a while now, belong to the group.

Choker dekha Praner katha

My first Solo exhibition ended earlier tonight.  This whole week has been exhilirating.    The Opening on the 29th was very well received.  I was touched by the speech made by Radha Chakravarty, Shahid Kabir, Baby Maudud and my husband (on my behalf).  Each in their own way went a long way in making the event special and one that I will never forget.  Inspite of being averse to public speaking I managed to get up and string a few words together.  Gallery Chitrak handled the event extremely well.  I was touched that so many of my friends made it to the event.

One nice thing about having a PR company whilst at Apple was the fact that you would regularly get clippings coverage in the media especially after an event.   This list is based on feedback and some that i’ve seen so far…

May 28th-July5th – photo listing in the Daily Star Art section banner,

The News Today – small write-up

Prothom Alo – small write-up

ABC Radio Channel – regular event announcement

and a review

“What the eye sees, and the heart speaks” and article by Art critic, Takir Hossain in The Daily Star

IANS (Indo-Asian New Service) – picked up the story “Indian painter exhibits work for Bangladesh connoiseurs“  picked up by Thai Indian news, The Gaea News and my blog post by JalleDa and Art Investment@demo research

“Ujwala Prabhu, a fervent painter” an article by art critic, Takir Hossain, in the Dhaka Courier.

Click on pic below to see some photos from the opening.

Solo 29th May 2009

Mechanical Fantasy

The opportunity to participate in a Printmaking workshop fell into my lap earlier this year and I’m glad I didn’t let it pass me by. This workshop was organised by the Britto Arts Trust and was a little different in format from the earlier two.

There were two coordinators but there was no person conducting the workshop. Half the participants were practicing print makers, while the others were painters and sculptors being exposed to printmaking for the first time. The idea was to share ideas, methods and techniques to produce work based on the theme “Mechanical Fantasy”.

The subject took me out of my comfort zone and I spent the first 3 days just playing around with different ideas and making small sketches based on them. Of course we were busy with cleaning and polishing the zinc plates in preparation. Finally two you see below were selected.

Lines were etched and then the plate was prepared with a layer of rosen for the Aquatint process.  Unlike the earlier two workshops, I transferred the drawings onto tracing paper, reversed it and used a sharp object to transfer it again to the prepared plate.

We held an Open Studio to display the work in early Feb and there is a plan to exhibit the work more formally in a gallery soon.  A friend photographed some of the work on display.

I’ve been bought, I’ve been sold!

 

We had the opening of our exhibition “Jhaal Muri” last night and it was a great success.  A big thanks to Sal and Nabila from Radius and Art & Soul for the arrangements.  There was a large turnout and happily most of our friends were there to lend us support.  Lots of paintings and photographs were sold including four of mine.  The Group of Five feature in the photographs below.  Images of the work on display have been posted by ace photographer Anil, here.  And you can see more of my attempts here.  

Update : November 9, 2008 : And if you’re looking for more, Nabila has put up her photographs here.

Update : November 13, 2008 : Press : 1. Jhaal Muri : Dhaka street culture in focus – article in the Daily Star. It has been picked up by 2. Bangladeshi, Indian artists focus on Dhaka’s street culture – article in the  Zimbabwe Star, 3. News from Asia Daily and 4. The Bangladesh New Network, 5. The New Nation

Update : November 14, 2008 : Flickr set : My Jhaal Muri paintings on Flickr

        

       

Jhaal Muri

A few months back, I’d put up a post about working on a new project.  Well, the time has come to share the details.  Those of you who follow my blog know that quite a few of my paintings are based on Anil’s inspiring photographs.   And it’s not surprising that I wasnt the only one inspired.   Rokeya, a leading Bangladeshi artist and friend suggested that a few of us come together to make and exhibit work based on our interpretation of Anil’s photographs.  They were to be references of Bangladeshi street life – photographs and paintings.  I loved the idea and accepted immediately.  In addition to Anil and Rokeya, there is Kuhu (also a well established artist who has helped me in my artistic journey these last two years),  Smita (a great artist and a good friend ) and I.  The Group of Five is made up of friends which has made working on this project so much more enjoyable.

Jhaal Muri is a delicious Bengali street snack made of puffed rice.  It is a spicy mix of many interesting and different ingredients which blend together well and the end result is a tasty packetful.  This is what our exhibition aims to be.

If you’re in Dhaka, please do drop by and catch up with us and our work at Bay’s Galleria November 8th to 23rd.

Radius Centre

is delighted to invite you to

Jhaal Muri

An Art & Photography Exhibition on Bangladesh Street Culture by

Rokeya ~ Kuhu ~ Smita ~ Ujwala ~ Anil

His Excellency Mr. Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh
will inaugurate the event.

8^th November 2008 at 6:30 PM

Bay’s Galleria

5^th Floor 57 Gulshan Avenue Dhaka Bangladesh

The exhibition will remain open 8^th to 23rd  November 2008

RSVP: Radius Center Tel 8833471-2 or email five@newber.com

Update : November 13, 2008 : Press coverage in The Daily Star, Dhaka, Bangladesh, the leading daily – Jhaal Muri, Dhaka street culture in focus by Nivedita Raitz von Frentz

13th Asian Art Biennale ’08

The Asian Art Biennale organised by the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy has been held in Dhaka since 1981.   A key art event in the region, it began with the aim of showcasing art from established and young artists portraying continuity and change.     The 13th Bangladesh Biennale is underway and I am delighted to have two of my paintings selected and one on display.

About the Painting (above)
Title : “Stop or else!”
Size : 24” by 30”
Medium: Acrylic on canvas

Tentative. Uncertain. Afraid.

Each of us has a boiling point and when we were younger we got there faster. Experience hadn’t taught us lessons of self preservation, forbearance, good sense or patience. Hot headed, hot blooded and extremely loyal, our actions took us to the point of no return and we made a stand for better or worse. Would it have made sense to deal harshly with us then? I feel bad when I read about tasers, lathi charges, rubber bullets and what-nots. Seems inhumane and unfair. Say No to violence against students.

About the Painting
Title : “Ekla cholo re”
Size : 24” by 36”
Status : SOLD
Medium: Mixed media on canvas

Sometimes, when there is a heavy load to bear, you have to walk alone.

This painting has been inspired by Tagore’s beautiful poem in Bengali, “Ekla cholo re” (walk alone) With apologies to Tagore. mostly translations do not capture the beauty of the original piece

Walk alone

If they do not answer to your call, walk alone,

If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,
unfortunate one,
open your mind and speak out alone.

If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness,
unfortunate one,
trample those thorns under your tread,
and along the bloodied track travel alone.

If they do not hold up the light on that stormy night,
unfortunate one,
with the flame of pain ignite your heart
and let it shine alone.

Say a little prayer for me…

I’ve been attempting to paint more than a portrait for the last few months but there is something special about this lady that has had me breaking that self imposed rule.   She’s been the subject of my paintings four times already in the last 3 months.   And I know that I’m not done yet! You can see the others versions here, here and here.   

She is the Tea Lady with a low open stall outside the entrance to a disused railway track.  She was selling tea and some eats and had one customer at the time the photographs were taken.   I like the fact that she is looking down and away as I find it easier to let my imagination run free when I’m painting.

The track later took us past a few shops and then a line of shanties on either side of the track leading to a dried fish market which is a popular addition to local dishes in Bangladesh.   Further ahead was Karwan Bazaar, one of the biggest wet markets in the city.  

Photograph copyright Anil Advani.  Used with permission.

Finding Beauty in Print

Rokeya Sultana, a well known printmaker and a professor at the Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka invited me to attend a Printmaking workshop, “In search of Beautiful Impressions”. The 7-day workshop started on June 18th and was organized by the art college and sponsored by Bengal Foundation. Two well known Printmakers, Nirmalendu Das and Pinaki Barua from Vishwa Bharati, Shantiniketan conducted the workshop. There was even a demonstration by Monirul Islam on the first day. Leading printmakers, students and artists from other streams attended. It’s been a hectic and fun week of interacting and learning. Being back at an Art College has been a treat. Selected prints of the participants will be displayed at a special exhibition to be held at the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts from 2nd to 4th of June.

This Lithograph of mine “Being an Aunt” will be a part of the display.

And if you want to know a bit more about 4 printmaking techniques – etching, woodcut, lithography and screen print, check out the excellent step-by-step animated demo provided by MoMA.

Update : June 1, 2008 : Exhibition details.

You are cordially invited to the inaugural ceremony of a three-day print exhibition In Search of Beautiful Impressions on Monday, 2 June 2008, at Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts. This is a special show of prints produced in a workshop conducted by Prof. Nirmalendu Das and Prof. Pinaki Barua of Viswa Bharati University, Santiniketan. The printmaking workshop, organized jointly by the Institute of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka and Bengal Foundation, was held from 18 to 24 May at the Institute of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka.

Prof. Dr. S M A Faiz, Vice Chancellor, University of Dhaka, will be present as Chief Guest to inaugurate the exhibition while artist Mahmudul Haque will be present as Special Guest.

* Institute of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka
* Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts

Time and Venue: Monday, June 2, 2008 at 5.30 PM

Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts
Bengal Shilpalaya
House 275/F, Road 27 (old)
Dhanmondi R/A, Dhaka 1209
Tel.: 8123115, 9113115, Fax: 9146111

The exhibition will remain open till 4 June 2008, daily from 12 – 8 p.m.

Related Posts : 8 days a week, Masters of Print, Art College walk-about, On the 7th day

Dalai Lama

Everyone seems to be discussing Tibet lately. Even my niece, who isn’t quite two, has been taught by her nanny to say “Free Tibet!”.

The reference for this piece is the cover of a recent issue of Time Magazine. 8″ X 10″ Pen & Ink in my sketchbook. I have used a white ink pen to recover from errors. Looking around for a grey pen to be able to use three distinct values in a future attempt.