ETCHING EXHIBITION "Incisive Waters" by Moindeep Saha at M.E.C. Gallery, Khan Market - 20th June to 25th July 08

• Time : 11:30 to 7:30 PM Daily ( Sunday Closed )

• Event Details : M.E.C. Art Gallery and Atul Marwah presents 'INCISIVE WATERS' by Monideep Saha.
• The umbrella doesn't billow in the wind to a strange reluctance to fold up after the rains. He sits behind the bicycle spacing out to accommodate an all pervading need; the black umbrella arching to the skies. In a frozen moment the cyclist and his co rider are drenched in a state of immobility springing from the receding drizzle. A striped, plastic carry bag seems suspended in anticipation for the next downpour as the cycle and its occupants hang on to the road.
• Opened through protected metal gates, the cycle is set against the stupendous remains of a colonial, colossal façade that moves up vertically to meet the opened skies in defiance. Remains of the past become a part of the reckoning as the riders are set within the frame of passage. The Cycle Rider cannot escape the hazy, shaky shadows reflecting from the sheet of water that lends support to the overall cast. Monideep Saha combines finer nuances of Etching with supporting multiplicity of imagery to create a set where the subjects become part of the cast.
• When one faces the nuances of mastering Etching techniques in the traditional print making process it becomes a task in application of such practice. In the sheer excitement of handling the medium with its need for control and experimentation, the printmaker could be led away in taking pleasures of mastering skills associated with the medium. All this while, possibilities of application in terms of content and experimentation could remain in the back seat.
• Monideep Saha has been able to combine the requisite techniques associated with Etching to make incisive paths as he walks through the streets of Calcutta resplendent with the joys of the every day. The pathways of the city are what concern the artist as it provides immense resources for casting his subject aptly in frame. Playing with a Montage of images thus culled from the city, the artist sifts through a series of choices to arrive at an apt moment.
• The Montage becomes more apparent in prints that combine individual set of frames that are put together without attempts at synthesis. Still life & Memories, Street Diary and Summer Amusement seem to be independent images put together to achieve breaks in the midst of a predominant singular frame. The subjects for such prints jump from sheets off a diary of sketches/ images to find its place of choice on the metal sheet.
• Working backwards from possible responses from the metal plate, the artist goes in for subjects that endure well with a routine process. In such prints there is a willful certainty to the finished print in terms of dealing with the opted subject. Understanding water and its sheen has been of immense help in tuning technique to requisite levels of ease. Sometimes a particular set lines or tint engages the artist in hauling out those elements in the composition for rendering on the plate.
• It could be sufficient to affirm the artist's need to go beyond skills and be lost in the endless possibilities of juggling with a montage after another. With a recurring collage of content, dimensions of frame could expand to include issues beyond the street. When the editions of prints are curtailed, its in the domain of the printmaker to determine how long a print endures significance.

• Place : M.E.C. Art Gallery, 70-B, First Level, Khan Market, New Delhi – 110003

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