Dimensions of painting in Pokhara

Prakash Thapa

Reviving the longstanding spirit of reflecting love and humanity through colours and experiences, Creative Artists’ Group of Pokhara (CAGoP ) is back again displaying its paintings at the City Art Gallery, depicting the theme of landscape literature, the diverse forms of socio-economics, human portraits, rituals and festivals, tribal dances and ultimately the theory of evolution.

Gifted with a beautiful landscape, flora, fauna, historical monuments, religious icons, lakes and mountains, cultures and languages, Pokhara has been holding its status, influencing its fellow countrymen with genuine conceptions of ideas and creativity.

Through art, man has been reflecting on the diverse modes of experience including joy and sorrow, love and hatred and ultimately mother nature thus giving the poets, singers, musicians, painters, and dancers creative energy.

Art, therefore can bring a metamorphosis in the domain of rational thinking, understanding, and perception resulting in human transcendence. Artists find their influences in nature; be it the murmur of a river, the grandeur of a mountain, the beauty of a girl, the early-morning chirping of birds, the steady ripples of a lake, the prevailing silence of nature and they portray these through the visual arts, music, and poems.

Capturing the contemporary spirit of art, the artists of Pokhara are steadily revolutionizing art and appear to have retained their creative potentials inherent in them which is reflected in their paintings. The paintings in general are the outcome of the artists’ meditative awareness, the sound craftsmanship and the down-to-earth experiences of human life.

The senior most artist Krishna Prasad Shrestha’s paintings are based on classical themes of mythologies and legends and therefore seem conventional. In ‘Namaste’ (Greeting), a man and a woman standing beneath a tree greet visitors. This further intensifies the theme ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’(Guests are likely to be treated as Gods).The young girl and the boy in ‘Changa’(Kite) try to undress each other reflecting the repressed desires of sexuality inherent in everyone.

The deteriorating cultural values, social norms is the predominant theme in Durga Baral’s ‘Sanskritik Khandahar’ (Cultural Degeneration). The painter suggests that the existence of man and culture may come to a standstill. His ‘Ekanta Pida’ (Anxiety of Loneliness) brings forth the inevitability of ‘death’. A woman laments upon the death of her husband and contemplates the devastating aftermath. Life however, is beautiful and ‘death’, its antithesis, cannot be ignored. The richness and the gestalt perspective versus the harsh and devastating side of life creates an equilibrium between these two extremes.

Exclusive in its subject matter and colour combination, Chhetra Lal Kayastha sees life as a mode of traveling. His ‘Yatra’ (Travel), is an attempt towards attaining the ‘bliss’ of life thereby freeing mankind from earthbound entanglement. ‘Yatra’ further symbolizes the perpetual quest for something that human beings live out and thus combats the ‘status quo’ of life. It indeed revitalizes man from the stasis of life and further enhances him/her with new experiences, feelings and imagination. The parents and their younger children all with smiling and optimistic faces appear to have been travelling full of enthusiasm and the spirit of life. In another ‘Yatra’ series, he observes life as a part of celebration .The man holding a traditional Nepali musical instrument ‘madal’, the woman singing songs, and the small children in dancing postures fuse together music and life thus forming an organic whole.

In Gopal Shrestha’s ‘Dhyana’ (meditation), a young girl in a maroon dress sits in meditative stature, bringing forth the impression of transcendence in human life furthering the possibility of achieving ‘eternal bliss’ through silence. That is, through silence and meditation meta-consciousness can happen following the absolute renunciation of the material self. It also highlights the theme of eternal salvation through meditation.

In ‘Rachana’ (Construction), Buddhi Gurung paints the myth of human struggle vis-a-vis a struggle for survival. Seen in the paintings are village folks carrying ‘dokos’ on their backs, resting on hilltops gazing far into the sky as if for hope. They appear firm in their work and belief, notwithstanding the hardships they have to endure. The more challenging it is, the stronger life turns out to be.

Predominantly impressionistic in its flavour, Ramesh Shrestha, the inconsistent art experimentalist, attempts to make a breakthrough in his work. His ‘Swapnabimba’ ( Dream Image) for instance is a conglomeration of abstractions and the concrete. The distorted image of a woman with mother nature in the backdrop, highlights the balance of mother/nature. In ‘Prakriti’ (Nature), he explores the myth of creation. The blend of semi-human like images and the moving heavenly objects further intensifies the theory of human evolution. Ramesh always strives for something new, be it the subject matter, colour combination, rhythm or the texture. His paintings seem to be a true reflection of his inconsistent mind.

With religious undertones, L.P. Gurung paints Lumbini with colourful prayer flags and stupas, thus portraying the universal message of peace, love and humanity in today’s world of violence and disintegration. The predominant Buddhist teaching of desirelessness and the detachment of all worldly possessions is heightened in his painting.

Kedar Palikhe’s love for the country, its culture, music, ritual practices, and the winding trails together form an organic wholeness. Through the rural culture, lifestyle, customs, Palikhe longs to emphasize the mainstream Nepali tradition to successfully represent the rural populace. Parallel to Palikhe’s socio-cultural set up Kiran Ranjit also depicts rural suffering and the hardship. The village women who are busy in their ‘Ropain’ (Crop Plantation) work successfully portrays the basic life style in the villages. Bishwo Shakya, Sanjaya Gurung, Amrit Babu, Dhaka Bhattarai, Padam Ghale, Rajdur Joshi, Mahendra Rajbhandari, and Prakash Shrestha also are largely confined to landscape painting. Bhattarai emphasizes the religious significance of ‘Barahi Temple’ and the growing faith of its fellow devotees.

‘Muhar Chitra’ (The Face) in black and white is S. B. Gurung’s creation which portrays the time-stricken face of an elderly man. Gurung here attempts to measure the dimension of time through human faces. Time thus remaining paradoxically indestructible in itself but which causes decay and destruction to any object.

Creative in conceiving a woman’s splitting personality, Bishwo Raj Parajuli in ‘Pratibimba’ (Image) divides a woman distinctively in two different dimensions. Presenting the woman with prospective features in the first segment and the regression in the other half, he successfully reflects the dual perspective inherent in a woman.

Human anxieties and frustrations are the major components that largely influence Sanjay’s mind. The Shepherdess with ragged dress, uncombed hair and seemingly exhausted is dozing off near the broken wall. With no other alternatives, she looks after the sheep for the sustenance of her life. The painting is attractive in portraying the plight of a rural Shepherdess and her confined world of slavery.

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