Humans are capable of showing at least 27 distinct emotions,and an ongoing art exhibition on human expressions here takes viewers throughmany of them.
Charcoal artist Arunkumar Chatterjee, an NGO worker fromBihar but based in Maharashtra’s Latur, has built upon numerous emotions he hasencountered over his life, to create his ‘Expressions’ series.
His exhibition “Journey of Life” opened for thepublic at the India International Centre (IIC) on Wednesday.
Subtle yet powerful, the paintings turn into mirrors for theviewers when they depict everyday emotions like cheerfulness, hatred,suspicion, euphoria, morbid curiosity and vengefulness, among others.
Chatterjee’s long, human faces might appear similar at firstbut reveal much more on a closer look. Take his work showing ‘resentment’,which shows two figures, one with an open eye leaning towards the other.
He has studied fine arts in Patna and Khairgarh, followed byresidency scholarships in Beijing and Tokyo. The charcoal work, once taken upby Chatterjee because charcoal is one of the least expensive mediums ascompared to oil or acrylic, has kept him company through his travels to variouscities.
Art, he said, runs in his family with his grandfather beingthe courtroom artist for a royal family in Bihar’s Darbhanga.
“Journey of Life” displays 10 years of theartist’s work. It will run till July 16.