A group exhibition titled ‘Does 2020 Matter?’ was recently organised at the Lalit Kala Akademi recently in the capital that displayed the works of six artists; Ajay Mohanty, Banoj Mohanty, Biswajit Panda, Deepak Bakshi, Manoj Mohanty and Sambit Panda.
And with diverse canvases on display come the diverse views of ideas that range from incorporating the use of geometrical shapes to depict philosophical thoughts to survival in an urban city. The participating were thrilled and fascinated to depict the changing behaviour of humans and other creatures, whereas about the ecological imbalance within the purview of changing cosmopolitan ethos, which happens due to avid desire for rapid human development.
Speaking to one of the artists, Manoj Mohanty, he says that he is fascinated to take environmental issues and societal happenings in his body of works. He adds, “I deal with the realism, at the same time when I talk about breathing in different atmospheres in urban setups, it always strikes me to create some work related to pollution and I got experience in the issues of the metro city which reflect in my works. In the exhibition, he displays one of the paintings titled Metropolis, where people are not able to breathe in metro cities due to pollution.
Another artist Deepak Bakshi’s work portrays the happenings of the world through his vision and the painting he displayed in the show titles Cityscape using the medium oil on canvas. “Generally, the thoughts behind my creative personality are to stay away from materialistic life and try to portray my anxiety through the art and the attempt I do in this series of work to find more exploration,” Deepak explains.
