These art works have originated from artist’s subconscious mind

The oil on canvas works by artist Tapan Dash depict his life journey from the childhood days he spent at Jagannathpuri in Odisha

Rajkumari Sharma Tankha

The Dialectics of Garden Bloom, a solo show by Ghaziabad-based artist Tapan Dash is all about his life-journey – the situations he encountered, the challenges he met and successes he got. “While we go through our lives, all of the experiences get stored in the subconscious mind. And they come back to me in the form of these images when I sit in front of my canvas,” he says. There are 13 works on display – all in his favourite medium oil on canvas. While he also works with water colours, charcoal and acrylic “oil gives me the maximum freedom to paint what I like”. “These are my works from last year and this. Oil takes a long time to dry so it often takes me a month-and-a-half to complete one painting,” says Dash who basically works with the three primary colours – red, blue and yellow. “Whatever colours you see on these canvases are created by me, spontaneously,” he adds.

 

The artist is happy about the response his first physical show (after the pandemic hit us) is getting, even though the crowd is missing. “A lot many art lovers and collectors are coming for the show. Only non-serious people who used to throng earlier are missing,” he says, adding that though online shows kept the art scene alive, the charm of seeing an actual canvas, and holding actual conversations with art lovers is an unparalleled joy, which no online show can give. “Having said that, the lockdown treated me well, I had enough time to work without any outside disturbances,” he adds.

 

Hailing from Jagannathpuri, Dash studied art at BK College of Art at the temple town of Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. Drawn towards art ever since he can remember, Dash began with paintings of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra when he was in class 3. Drawing and painting enchanted him, but he didn’t know he could make a career out of it. That everyone in the family was in “serious professions” with his father being a mechanical engineer with Odisha Govt didn’t help either. So, after school he took admission in B.Com. But he couldn’t continue with commerce studies and took admission in the art college.

Post his BFA, Dash moved to Delhi in 1996, took up a job of an art teacher at a school and began holding shows. The first show he held at Rabindra Bhawan, Lalit Kala Academy was a hit. “Those were mostly water colours on paper and charcoal on canvas. Ebrahim Alkazi purchased many of my works which boosted my morale. It also made me quit job and devote full time to art,” he says. “The initial days were a bit tough but I strongly believe that if one is passion and devotion helps you achieve great heights,” he adds.

Other than painting, Dash is interested in Indian classical music. Mallikarjun Mansur, Shobha Gurtu, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj and Kishori Amonkar are some of his favourite artistes. “My studio is always reverberating with classical music and songs. They give a fillip to my work,” he signs off.

 

Till: September 30, 11am to 7pm
At: Gallery100A, Old MB Road, Lado Sarai, New Delhi