Modern Mix

The cacophony of Delhi roads melts into the silence of a gallery where contemporary themes meet traditional art. Neelkant Choudhary brings in modern elements in Madhubani — the technique is purist but the issues are everyday, from children going to school to stage artistes fiddling with their masks and Goddess Kali fashioned in a more svelte manner.

"Madhubani has broken bounds, adopted new manifestations and expanded its constituency. My works mark a departure not merely of newly and widely imagined themes but I have also brought to the form an entirely new idiom of tone and tenor," says the artist from Bihar, introducing his solo at Gallerie Ganesha.

Comprising 40 works, the exhibition, the 51-year-old observes, is an effort to patronise and popularise Madhubani in its altered form, where contemporary influences are in focus. So, monotones and pastels have been infused into the art form, and figures wear expressions unlike conventional representations. "It has been a great journey to work with lines in the minutest details, giving expressions to the characters in these paintings as well as change this traditional painting from flat to three-dimensional," says the graduate in art from University of Punjab.

The exhibition is on at Gallerie Ganesha, E-557, Greater Kailash - II, till April 8. Contact: 29217306

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