Textile designer’s artistry: Poonam Bhatnagar’s first solo in Delhi from Friday
New Delhi / April 8, 2024
New Delhi, Apr 8: Twenty-four canvases of Poonam Bhatnagar will be on display in the national capital from this Friday, giving a comprehensive glimpse at the intense acrylic-on-canvas engagements of an artist primarily trained in textile design.
Bringing unique details using minute strokes with the brush and a delicate palette of colours, Poonam’s six-day exhibition will be held at Bikaner House from April 12. The show, ‘Between Dreams’, highlights her prowess to lend a surreal quality to works of depth crafted in detail.
The exhibition will be inaugurated on April 12 evening by noted film director, artist and author Muzaffar Ali.
Open to the public from 11 am to 7 pm, the exhibition by Masha Art Gallery has been curated by noted art historian and scholar Uma Nair. The paintings, brushed with a delicate mix of colours, stand out for the choice of subjects and their execution on large surfaces. The exhibition is segmented into five: ‘Mythos’, ‘Cityscapes’, the ‘Vriksha’ series, ‘Portraits Old and New’, and ‘Shunya’.
Some can be subtle yet tantalising. For instance, the dancing Shiva or the veena-playing Saraswati. Or, cutting to contemporary times, the bewitching smile of a Hindi actress, or, far away from Bollywood, a glimpse of a celebrated city in the west. Poonam’s creativity comes with a breath of fresh air, as she presents her first solo in Delhi.
‘Between Dreams’ is on view at Kalamkaar, on the first floor of Bikaner House.
The ‘Mythos’ series appears as if they are needlework, while simultaneously giving the paintings a three-dimensional effect. The artist has named her unique style as a ‘web cast’, having been inspired from a spider’s web. “For two years, I have been preparing for this show,” says Poonam, who has earlier participated in group exhibitions.
Uma Nair, talking about Poonam’s technique, says a look at the paintings from a distance can effectively create multiple layers that create their own illusionary experience. “When you look at the ‘Cityscapes’ or the ‘Mythos’ series, I’d use the word ‘illusion’,” she adds.
Masha Art CEO Samarth Mathur notes that the show promises a “mesmerising journey” through its distinct thematic elements. “Together, they unveil meticulously crafted artworks that seamlessly blend imagined realms with tangible landscapes and captivating portraits,” adds the owner of Masha Art, which has its flagship Gallery in the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi.
Poonam loves working on big canvases. For instance, the painting of Saraswati. Measuring 6x4 feet on canvas, it shows the goddess of learning in a meditative posture, playing the veena. The geometric lines and squares, along with the intermingling waves, create a trance-like effect.
Similarly, her ‘Shiva Shakti’, done on a 4.5x4 feet canvas, has a three-dimensional effect, as the vertical and horizontal geometric lines merge with the squares and waves, bestowing a cosmic quality to the painting of Shiva and Parvati in a romantic union amid the vastness of the universe. “I can’t work on small canvases, because I have so much to tell, to show,” she adds.
Poonam’s ‘Cityscapes’ encapsulates her experiences of the sights of cities abroad such as London, Venice and Zurich besides that of the Himalayan Ladakh, among other places. ‘Oxford Street’, a 5 x 7.75 feet painting, transports the viewer to the heart of London, amid the buildings, double-decker buses and the bustling crowds. Her Venice with its gondolas and houses overlooking the waterways is as capturing as the one on Ladakh with the broad stone stairs leading up to a stone-facing quaint old building.
In her series on ‘Vriksha’, Poonam merges her intricate style with normal brushstrokes, like in ‘Birdsong’ — an evocative and soothing piece that lifts the spirits. So do ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Pathway’. Her ‘Pensive Portrait’ series features mesmerising portraits of yesteryear heroines Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Suchitra Sen and Madhabi Mukherjee. Done mostly in black and white, they are collector’s items.
