"Marks & Markers" An exhibition of paintings by Samindranath Majumdar at Gallerie Ganesha, E-557, Greater Kailash-II > 11am-6pm on 16th August to 12th September 2013

Time : 11:00 am - 6:00 pm

Entry : Free

Place : Gallerie Ganesha, E-557, Greater Kailash-II, New Delhi-110048
Venue Info : gallerieganesha.com | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Kailash Colony(Violet Line)'

Event Description : Gallerie Ganesha invites you to 'Marks and Markers' an exhibition of paintings by Samindranath Majumdar.
Born in 1966, Majumdar received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Visual Arts from Rabindra Bharti University, Kolkata, after completing a first undergraduate degree in science at Kolkata University. 

Belonging to an illustrious family of educators, writers and painters, notably his grand-uncle was the renowned artist Hemendranath Mazumdar, Samindranath Majumdar’s paintings look back to his own experiences, using abstraction and multiple layers of paint to redefine space and memory.

“Marks are made by markers, but the marks also define the markers. This show is all about memory and history. Memories are like marks which have been created by a particular time and at the same time eroded by time too. So “time” is the marker here, a personal/private time and Time as an eternal flow. Marks are then the signs of/for my intrinsic unconscious self and these could be read also as conscious choices from my socio-private experiences, mediated by time.”

At the same time, his works tread the fine line between completely abstract and representative forms, calling into question the role that narrative threads play in experiencing art. “The context reminds me of a quote from Brancusi. He wrote, “They are imbeciles who call my work abstract. That which they call abstract is the most realistic, because what is real is not the exterior but the idea, the essence of things.” But well, to me abstraction is a quality which is present in every piece of art worth its name. In some of my works, yes, you can very well identify some representational elements. But these elements have actually been re-presented here. I change their external retino- visual reality into a lyrical, existential, poetic, prosaic, non dramatic, gestural identity.”

For Majumdar, memory unfolds in a series of unstable visuals. Born in a Kolkata suburb, he grew up among greenery which was slowly being replaced by the growing space of a crowded metropolis. He recalls being enamoured by the various jute mills situated on his way to school. Observing the imposing and, sometime, crumbling buildings on a daily basis left its mark on his memory, to surface many years later in his canvases. Then there was the Ganges with its wide, open ghats, the calm waters and an unending horizon which was also to leave an impression on the young child.

In his paintings, a silvery dreaminess pervades the scene. His paintings look like shimmering forms in red and blue which seemingly dissolve into the silver smoke of his works. In one silkscreen work titled The Broken Wing, the wings of an old aircraft, lie on a wheat field like textured background where it is slowly transforming into a sapphire obelisk. In yet another work, puffs of cumulo-nimbus clouds float over a softly outlined skyscraper. Solid triangles bounce against the clouds in a work with a strong cubist flavour. The triangles become a block of mysteriously brown cheese with what looks like the head of a fish with citrine eyes in another work. The colours are subdued and well balanced, the forms splendidly organised, giving some of the abstract still lives a brooding magnetism that is quite rare.

Related Events : PaintingsDrawingExhibits | Exhibitions