The purest of art forms

Sixteen artists; two galleries and a concoction of different elements, is what makes an art exhibition interesting enough for an art admirer to ponder over. 'Quintessence' by Grains of Canvas at All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society was an exhibition that saw artists, irrespective of their age coming together for a single purpose: promote and propagate art.

Among all the other artists is young Drishti Gupta, a 20-year-old art student at Pearl Academy, who is still exploring her forte. She loves to read about people, artists from progressive period and impressionism. And her paintings in charcoal and acrylics instantly connect with the viewer. "My paintings are something that goes on in my mind; something that I want to depict through figures. There is a kind of emotion that you feel when you look at them – it can be good or bad. But it is something that connects with you on an emotional level." Even though she is comfortable using acrylics, most of her paintings are done with charcoal. Her reason? It is the most basic, purest thing that one can use to make something as she prefers the free representation of feelings and their movement.

Artist and President of 'Grains of Canvas', Dilip Sharma along with 16 other artists including, Meetu Kapoor, Mona Chadda and Manju Thakur showcased various subjects such as mythology, architecture, emotions and social life in general.

Bringing forth a mysterious world of creations, Manju Thakur takes inspiration from simple forms. For this exhibition, she presented two views of the world through Maati ki Gaatha and Apeksha. In Apeksha, one can see how the painter herself can find happiness in the smallest of things such as a balloon. Manju's paintings, while showing the stark contrast between the two sides of a society, also shows that in the end, everyone yearns for happiness.

What is often looked as mundane always holds a creative wisdom. Even those random thoughts that come and go without a glimmer have the power to stir minds. These seemingly everyday things are often disregarded by the common man but for an artist, these instances are an inspiration. Meetu Kapoor is one such artist who brought out the vivaciousness of everyday things with her watercolour paintings. "Things like a light-lamp, street vendor, rickshawalas are very simple, ordinary things, but when you paint them, you depict a different side to them," said Meetu who does not like to be limited to any particular subject.

Using mixed mediums on canvas, Renu Kapoor had a total of five solemn paintings with a 'shankha' as its central theme. In each of her painting, a 'shankha' depicts a beginning of a revolution. "In Mahabharata, a 'shankha' was used to signify the beginning of the war and Bengali women in Durga puja play 'shankha' to start with their puja. I never intended to play with this theme, but it happened gradually," said Renu.