In Chandigarh, 12 artists have come together for the exhibition Emante

Gurnaaz Kaur

Depiction of the human struggle during the pandemic in the form of abstract art, paintings of dreams; a black and white collage of nature in brush and ink, some mandala art, pieces of puzzles in pastels — there is all this and lots more at the third annual show, Emante, by Neo Art group, which is being held at the underpass connecting Sector 17 and Rose Garden.

The Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi is supporting the group; says its chairman Bheem Malhotra, “Our focus is to bring art to public and public to art. Through this association we have provided a platform to promote senior and new artists alike.” After the lockdown, this is the first such group show that is being held by CLKA and Neo Art. “A few more exhibitions are lined-up for the coming weeks,” he adds.

Joint venture

At the open lively location, where social distancing is hardly a point of worry, art adds to the ambience like nothing else. Twelve artists from the city, including Rajendra Kumar, Subhash Shorey, Karamjeet Singh, Anand Dev, Pankaj Saroj, Monika Rana, Narinder J S Maloya, Aarti Thakar, Ritu Singh, Akanksha Gaur, Amanpreet Kaur and Anju Bala, are participating in the group show, which is on till February 15.

Together, these artists are aiming to highlight contemporary art styles and artworks in different mediums. In her monochromatic watercolour painting of Buddha, Anju Bala says she is subtly presenting the need for peace in such trying times. “I chose the light shade of blue because it is soothing to the eyes.” Rajender Kumar’s paintings show stages through which mankind battled the Coronavirus and how against all odds, it has started to thrive again. “So black is the virus and all the other colours are that of humans as well as nature,” he says.

A series of four paintings beautifying the curves and patterns on the bodies of lizards, turtle and earthwork are impressive. Ritu Singh explains, “This series is called creatures of the lesser God. We find them ugly, rather despise them but it is important for us to remember the crucial role they play in the ecosystem.”