Magic with colour : An online session to introduction to some of India's renowned artist

 

About the Book

A unique collaboration proudly presented by KCC in conjunction with a panel of distinguished contemporary artists. The project has been specially curated by Ina Puri for KCC.

 

 ‘Magic with Colour’ is a unique collaboration that seeks to bring colour, light and joy in our worlds in the simplest way possible, which is, by engaging with the arts. While KCC has been presenting professionally conducted online courses and programmes during this bleak time, on their platform, for art students, artists, researchers and scholars, this project goes a step further and asks you to collaborate with some of the country’s most distinguished artists and create an artwork together with them. 

 

In these extraordinary times, we often heard people share their sense of foreboding as our familiar world receded further and further away due to the global pandemic. Shorn of vitality and radiance, it felt as if the world was reduced to silhouettes in black and white, as they struggled to deal with the new normal. Something had to be done and soon, we couldn’t allow ourselves to lose hope. It was time to open all the windows and allow the light to come in.

 

To revisit the lands of memory where we had once heard the sweet song of birds and experienced the magical gesture of flowers opening in the morning, time had come to hark back to days of childhood when we had skipped and played hopscotch, our hearts thrilling as drumbeats announced the auspicious arrival of Ma Durga with her glittering entourage. To later days when we courted and were courted and then, growing older, discovered our lives many challenges, as years passed. The grand plan with which we set out was to celebrate life’s many moments and the idea was to commission the artists to make art work in outlines, which would be in their distinctive styles, but sans colour.

 

The silhouettes required to be filled in with colour and we wanted to invite you, dear reader, to use your imagination and fill in the reds, blues, yellows, greens purples and pink, as you wished! We encourage you to let your creative spirits soar and paint the skies and flowers and birds any colour you wish, because in the world of imagination, everything is possible. As you will learn, we have covered a range of topics in this magical book and you will discover a world that offers many possibilities to your inventiveness.

 

The different sections open different worlds, each inviting your intervention. Mythical creatures are the subject of Jayasri Burman’s drawings, her painted gods & goddesses inhabiting a world of fantasy. Jayasri’s feminine gaze bequeaths upon the imaginary creatures almost human characteristics and the Devi figures drawing upon real life qualities emerge as triumphant women, unafraid and strong.  Maite Delteil brings alive a world of enchanted forests where brightly coloured birds flock and flowers bloom. In her phantasmagorical landscapes her own memories bring back pastoral scenes and she paints orchards with fruit laden trees on which birds roost. She leaves a lot unsaid, however, waiting for young painters to fill in the details, as they will.

 

Thota Vaikuntam has set you a challenging task; will you be able to shade the cast of characters correctly? Maybe you will use a sharpened pencil over his drawings, gently at first.  The characters, in solitary repose or groups belong to the Telengana region and carry forward their legacy with pride. Refer to paintings of Vaikuntam’s and you will understand his painterly world. Lalu Prasad Shaw portraiture of characters is informed by events real and fictional and the artist celebrates the quintessential Bengali spirit through his distinctive oeuvre.

 

 

His line drawings specially commissioned for this book are like an album of faces we recognize from our own past lives. Shaw is a master storyteller and paints tableaus that are marvelously humorous and captivating. For our colouring book, the veteran painter Shuvaprasanna has drawn birds and animals with his usual deft fluidity that marks all his drawings, the flurry of lines brilliantly capturing the very essence of his subjects. As a painter Shuvaprasanna has for long drawn inspiration from the city of Kolkata, not the cityscape alone but also its birds and animals, especially the cats and crows who appear in his compositions regularly, with stories of their own to narrate. He shares images from his oeuvre for the young mind to explore. Moored to the land of nostalgic yearnings, 

 

Sakti Burman’s drawings are autobiographical, allegorical and surrealistic. The dreamer paints outlines of reveries where children pretend to be powerful kings. The playful mingling of mortals and mythical beings makes for a fascinating pictorial narrative. Bold silhouettes are characteristic of Paresh Maity’s style and for this book, he has drawn some images that will inspire you to reach out for your box of water colours, maybe you will practice a little before painting these beautiful compositions? The artist has travelled across the world and his artistic compositions incorporate visual elements that enrich his canvas with memories of songs and misty twilights. Paresh favours a palette that is bright and luminous, maybe you too will be adventurous and use the indigo blues and mustard yellows from your box of colours?

 

Narayan Chandra Sinha’s jester is dressed in a jacket that could be coloured in pastels but look at the fish with it’s curved tail. Pastels here or colour pencils? Narayan works with found objects, primarily Kansha (sourced from Murshidabad) and his monumental sculptures range from images of Devi to installations that are organic, addressing critical issues like climate change. While the world of fantasies, memories and myths are the subjects where some of our painters are concerned, it is the present day crisis of the marginalized and the migration that becomes the focal point for Jatin Das. His powerful portraits pay homage to the resilience of a people who will not submit to adverse conditions but fight back. The drawings are vividly expressive and in fluent strokes that not only captures the minutest physical details of the men and women but also their determination.

 

A project like this cannot happen without the support of an organization that seeks to promote art and art making at every level and I am deeply grateful to KCC for their support and to Richa and Aditya Agarwal for encouraging the idea from its inception with enthusiasm. I am indebted to each of the artists who immediately agreed to come on board and sent me their work so spontaneously, taking time out. We are indeed honoured to have the participation of Sakti Burman, Jatin Das, Lalu Prasad Shaw, Shuvaprasanna, Thota Vaikuntam, Maite Deltiel, Paresh Maity, Jayasri Burman and Narayan Chandra Sinha who have specially created artwork for this publication. Archana Press and Rajesh Gupta are so much an integral part of the art world that it was but natural that I would go to them to design and print this wonderful book and needless to say they have been worthy of our trust.

 

Finally, I would like to dedicate this enchanting colouring book to Samaira & other little people, in the fervent hope that they succeed in making right all that is so wrong with the world. May they realize their dreams in technicolour and shine the light for us to find our way.

 

- Ina Puri