Of the ever-changing world

Shift Collective, a unique exhibition of paintings and photographs of two Delhi-based young artists - Suman Sengupta and Amit Dey - was a melange of images, emotions and expressions of a journey that is both inward and outward. It is true to life and comments upon the world around us.  

Shift is different from moving forward or moving backward. It means moving along the lateral. And among all physical mobility - pushing, pulling, picking or dropping - shifting is the most challenging.

In the 22 works in this exhibition, one saw a gradation in the development of the ideas of the artists in this scheme and how each concept has been meticulously developed. The artists came from the mainstream visual media. The major shift in the manner in which the artists have challenged their mainstream work is the real creative genius of this exhibition.

Mounted at the Lalit Kala Akademi, the week-long exhibition was jointly inaugurated by eminent painter Sanjay Bhattacharya, whose paintings adorn the walls of the National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi, and leading photographer and advertising professional Akash Das, on Sunday, December 21.  

Amit Dey’s photographs are a technical delight as he has used colourful light sources and exploited long exposures to create vignettes of light in his frames. Even while he lets loose, he pushes his equipment quite far so as to allow it to perform freely. In a quiet metaphor, he has lived the real meaning of photography in his works - writing light with light and creating the mesmerizing shimmering effect that light and shadows create on a vast space filled with lines and shapes. Two of his works on display – Power and Origin – bear ample testimony to it.

Shashi Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram who was among the special attendees at the inauguration, was effusive in his praise of the works of the two artists. 

“The photograph titled Soul is my favourite as it brings out the meaning of the word beautifully. I also like Breaking the LOC as it reveals the imminent danger of violence edging into peace in our environs, very evocative”. The exhibition concluded on December 27.