Chats on canvas

Exploring how canvases can spark conversations, a new art exhibition is set to feature 13 emerging artists and open this weekend, writes Naman Arora.

The Canvas & Conversations art exhibition, opening on Saturday, April 27, will run until May 11 and is being held at the Bahrain Artistic Frames Centre in Budaiya. It is being organised and curated by Bahrain-based Indian artist and creative Sudeep Deshpande.

“Visual art needs to be heard, just as it needs to be seen,” the 43-year-old architect, painter and metal sculptor told GulfWeekly.

“Experiencing a work of art becomes more of a tour in an art gallery and is merely left to a visual experience. If a painting or a sculpture catches an eye, it is admired by the viewer, looked upon and enjoyed by the audience.

“But the moment there is conversation about the very purpose of making of that painting or that sculpture, the viewer can then dive into the process from conception to completion.

“The dynamic of looking at it enhances the work, changing the impression of that particular work of art and the artist.

“To be able to converse over a canvas I feel has always been inspiring and therefore the theme of the group show Canvas & Conversations came to my mind.”

A total of 45 paintings by 13 artists are being showcased at the exhibition. In addition to Sudeep, Brainy Tomar, Deepa Parthiban, Dr Sunila Abdutty, Ina Jane Marie, Nirela Sahinagic, Sagarika Konukollu, Mukta Surana, Sriparna Ghosh, Pia Banerjee, Richa Maurya, Sylvia D’souza and Laxmi Dha are showcasing their work.

Diverse artistic processes, styles and techniques are being highlighted in the exhibition by each of the creatives involved, and the goal is to offer viewers an opportunity to interact with artists on the opening night to better understand their process.

For 50-year-old Bosnian and Herzegovinian Nirela, who is exhibiting three pieces, her artistic journey began after she got her professional photography diploma from the New York Institute of Photography.

She mainly works with textured art and acrylic colours in creating masterful abstract pieces, like the Covid-19 pandemic-inspired painting titled Plus.

“I created this during the pandemic when I tested positive for the virus, hence the name,” she added.

“I was trying to express a different kind of chaos within my designated zone, leading to this abstract piece.”

Meanwhile, nature is the primary inspiration for Deepa, 53, who has distilled its diversity and complexity into beautiful simplicity in her pieces.

“A free spirit and a soul in sync with the universe is how I perceive myself and art, to me, is spiritual expression,” she explained.

“More than the big things in life, it is the small little details which give the utmost satisfaction and happiness.

“Nature touches a deep chord within me, evident from the positive energy emanating from my artistic expressions.”

Deepa is exhibiting three acrylic on canvas pieces in the exhibition, centred on different elements she experienced in nature and how they evoke human emotions.

In The Divine Bond, inspired by a picture taken by a friend of his wife and daughter in Germany, she explores the unconditional love between a mother and child, with twilight hues and a luminescent glow, making the captured moment seem ethereal. In Enchanted Forest, she takes a walk through the beauty and allure of the deep woods in minute detail.

The art pieces and their artists will be available during the opening of the exhibition on Saturday, April 27 at 6pm.

For more details, follow @sudeep_deshpande3 on Instagram.