Bikalpa Art Center’s Pop Up Summer Art exhibition

Art is a medium to express one’s thoughts and individuality through different forms. One of such mediums is painting. To celebrate Nepali contemporary art, Pop Up Summer Art exhibition is being held at Bikalpa Art Center, Pulchowk from June 7 to 21, 2019, by curator Saroj Mahato.

It features exclusive collections of six Nepali artists; Chirag Bangdel, Rajan Pant, Seema Sharma Shah, Sushma Shakhya, Uma Shanker Shah and Umesh Shah. The sole purpose of Pop Up Summer Art exhibition is to promote Nepali art and culture.

Photo: Sushmita Chaudhary

All the artists presented their mesmerizing views towards different aspects. In the world of chaos, Artist Chirag Bangdel believes that love is the only thing that will save humanity. He wanted his art to heal himself as well as the audience. And he has done so from his painting ‘Geet Govinda’.

In our journey from life to death, we experience many things and hope gives people the opportunity to open their doorway to endless possibilities. Rajan Pant’s painting explores the same and exhibits the universe that lies between the frozen and flowing time. His paintings show the intercourse between common and ordinary dreams, floating between him and people of the town. It depicts the town surrounded by emptiness where time has frozen.

Photo: Sushmita Chaudhary

Highly influenced by Mithila and Ancient Egyptian Art, Umesh Shah’s painting depicts everyday life in the 21st century. In the Mithila paintings usually represent daily chores are in artistic way. And we can see that his paintings also give the same Egyptian vibes with the colors he has played with.

Other artists Bikalpa Art Center features:

Sushma Shakya’s paintings with Newa motifs designs (water, earth, fire and sky) and green color (air) represent the five elements of life. Her painting ‘Mandala of life Cycle’ shows the complete life cycle of a human. Three flowers in her painting represent birth, life, and death, respectively.

Sushma Shakya’s paintings ‘Mandala of life Cycle’ at Bikalpa Art Center. Photo: Sushmita Chaudhary

On the other hand, Uma Shanker Shah’s painting has expressed the old charm and mysticism of Kathmandu in his own artistic language. In his painting ‘Cityscape’ we can see more use red and yellow in the paper represented as lanterns up above the city. His expression and depiction in painting can be said to have successfully expressed the mysticism of Kathmandu city.

Lastly, Sharma Shah uses bright colors in her paintings that reflect her with three decades of experience in the field. She is also one of the renowned and award-winning printmakers having done more than 70 shows, held nationally and internationally. She has used bright colors in her paintings to create the images of gods and goddesses. The effects calms the mind and uplifts one’s mental state.

Mahato says, Pop Up Summer Art exhibition is the gateway for artists, art enthusiasts, art admirers, and art collectors to unite and glorify Nepali Contemporary art in national as well as international market.

The first day of the exhibition was successfully conducted in presence of Chief Guest Pratima Pandey and with participation of around 150 people in Bikalpa Art Center.

The exhibition will go on till June 21, 2019.