Bikalpa Art Center (BAC) announces its first summer pop-up exhibition featuring six Nepali contemporary painters at BAC located in Pulchowk, Lalitpur.
The exhibition will begin on Friday, June 7th with an opening cocktail reception, 05:00 pm onwards followed by a musical performance. The exhibition will remain open for the next two weeks until 21st July. Gallery hours: 10 am to 6 pm.
Bikalpa Art Center’s first “Pop-Up Summer” features an exclusive collection of six Nepali contemporary artists; Chirag Bangdel, Rajan Pant, Seema Sharma Shah, Sushma Shakya, Uma Shanker Shah and Umesh Shah. All of the presented paintings/ printmaking portray their own discrete stories through their independent ways of spreading the artists’ viewpoint.
BAC recognizes the significance of art, culture and civilization and intends to fulfill the purpose of introducing art to the general public of Nepal whilst providing innovative art experiences to a myriad of audiences. The Pop-up summer exhibition contributes to our existing purpose of promoting Nepalese art and culture.
With this new exhibition, BAC aspires to bring an array of artists, from renowned to emerging, together into a single platform to collectively celebrate Nepalese contemporary art. Pop-up summer is a gateway for artists, art enthusiasts, art admirers and art collectors to unite and glorify Nepalese contemporary art in the national as well as the international art market.
The exhibiting work of arts cherishes the warm hues of summer all while unfolding exquisite tales of their own. The exhibition also provides an excellent opportunity for art collectors to get these one-of- a-kind pieces and expand their personal art collections.
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Chirag Bangdel
Geet Govinda, Paintings
Since 2003, the days of insurgency He come to realize that there is so much violence around us, that if he wanted a little peace of mind he would listen to some music, or read a poem or look at a painting. He wanted art to be a healer. A healer for him and for the audience. He has also come to realize that whatever progress we make, it is only love that will save humanity at the end of the day. And that’s something that he wants to depict in his paintings. One of his series that he has been working on for a long time is called “Geet Govinda”. As you may know, Geet Govinda is a book of poems by the 12th century poet Jayadeva and it celebrates the love of Lord Krishna and Radha. However, he just borrows the title from the book. The paintings are created out of his own imaginations. The paintings are but the celebration of love.
Chirag Bangdel is an artist, writer and poet based in Kath- mandu. Chirag is celebrated for his figurative compositions and has created a large number of works in the genre. Chirag is also loved for his other series of mixed media and collage artworks which he calls “Tattva”. His eighth solo exhibition of paintings in 2006 was organized and hosted by The World Bank, Kathmandu, to mark Women’s Day. In 2012, The World Bank, Kathmandu organized and hosted another exhibition in its Public Information Office premises.
Chirag Bangdel is also a radio presenter and producer. He is also the Founder President of the South Asian Poetry Festival For Peace (www.southasianpoetry.com), a poetry festival that takes place in Kathmandu.
Rajan Pant
Ramayana series: RAMA SETU, Paintings
This is an episode of the process of time. This particular time is abundant and significant where stories of life have miraculously integrated. The enormous forms are being created by the fragrance of the field, the subtle gush of wind-like human beings, dreams that are expanded and stretched due to the heat, and the small fragmented skies that are slowly galloping in order to meet them all. The little skies are journeying through balloons like bubbles of the wind and some silently explode due to which the clouds are scattered all over the field, and the little merry children are excited to see the fishes which are floating in these scattered clouds. These children are being pushed towards their homes by the distant dull smoke of the evening and the stir of this situation is creating almost silent sound, which are turning into cold of the night. Within the peacefulness of this cold night, the familiar yet unknown eyes gaze the white pearl. And the voices of these eyes gradually and quietly transform into silence. These fragmented yet connected episodes freeze the night and the fire that is lit up in the homes early morning begins to melt the freeze even heating up the afternoon sun.
A hope, every day merely a single hope. A new day does not dawn there. The same episode of time always repeats there. A town where time has frozen. There lies a universe in between the frozen and the flowing time. These are the pieces of that emptiness; this is not only Tarai or Madhes… this is the intercourse between the common and ordinary dreams which are floating between me and the people of the town.
Born in 1976 Kathmandu has completed his masters in painting from T.U. Nepal. He has done two solo exhibitions titled “life & times of Ganesh Man Singh”-1997 and “Solitude Frag- mented”-2014 in Kathmandu. He has done more than sixty selected group shows both in and outside Nepal. He has also organized, planned and coordinated various significant art events since 1995, such as annual Juddakala exhibition, Art workshops, Art exhibitions, Art exchange tours (Sikkim, Darjeeling, Varanasi, Delhi, Kolkata Shanti Niketan etc.), He is the founder of Zero Century Fine Art foundation, founder of Altamira School of visual arts, executive member of Artists’ society of Nepal-2002, executive member of Young artists’ group YAG-1995, etc.
Seema Sharma Shah
Ganesh with Mouse, Printmaking
Seema Shah incorporates bright colors into creating images of gods and goddesses in a realistic style yet somehow it reflects a dreamy world that rejects fixed interpretation. Drawing subject matters from Buddhism to Hinduism, Seema Shah integrates the conceptual and perpetual elements from both ends into the creation of her mesmerizing beauties. The treatment of color is functional in itself as well as in relation to the total structure of the prints, giving her the series a classical form. The prints celebrate her artistic qualities, the creative process of creation which highlights printmaking as a powerful medium of expression.
Seema Sharma Shah is one of the renowned and award-winning printmakers in Nepal. She was born in Varanasi. She earned a Ph.D. in History of Art in 1998 from Banaras Hindu University. She has participated in more than 70 shows held nationally and internationally in Japan, Korea, USA, UK, the Netherlands, France, India, Scotland, and Bangladesh. Between 1989 and 2018 her solo shows have been exhibited by different galleries in Nepal and India, mostly in Siddhartha Art Gallery, Nepal, Gallery Ganesha, India, Juno Art Gallery, South Korea, Jahangir Art Gallery, India, Open Eye Gallery, UK, Prince of Wales Museum, India. She has won the Best Etching Award at Art Fest Doral in Miami twice in 2013 and 2014 and an honorable mention in the 1st Print Biennale India 2018. Her works depict the images of an- cient Nepali sculpture and architecture, Nepali cultural rituals and Hindu and Buddhist mythologies. She is presently working as an Associate Professor at the Central Department of Fine Arts in Tribhuwan University.
Sushma Shakya
Mandala of Life Cycle, Paintings
Newa motifs designed (water, earth, fire and sky) and deep green color (air) represent the five elements in the print ‘Mandala of Life Cycle’. At the center of the composition, She has placed three flowers: a bud, a blooming flower, and a wilting flower representing birth, life, and death. A complete life cycle is possible only if all elements are balanced. Throughout her life, she has been surrounded by the intricate aesthetics created by my ancestors. Every inch of the beautiful architecture decorated with plant life, motif design, animals, gods and goddess of the courtyards in Patan influenced me as an artist.
As an artist, she feels she has a responsibility to call attention to the unbalance caused by the consequences of human action. She chooses to explore the same human effects and highlight endangered animals but also question how we are linked; we could also become extinct if we do not call attention to prevailing unbalance in our world. In previous works she called attention to the unbalanced nature of women in society; how to worship the goddess, and celebrate women’s day but in our social and political spheres women are forgotten.
Throughout my artwork she let the concept lead to the medium. She is not limited to any medium and my concepts flow-through installation, painting, video, and printmaking as well. Her idea is that every particle in this universe is not independent of any other. Each drop of paint relates to the next. The one becomes many and we only observe a general vision. Everything is dependent upon everything else. She believes that we can only reach our true potential by realizing our interdependent nature. She owes this realization to her ancestors who understood the delicate balance of nature.
Sushma Shakya is a visual artist from Patan, Nepal. She primarily works on printmaking, painting, illustrations, video art and installations. She finished her Master’s Degree in Printmaking from Tribhuvan University Kathmandu Nepal. She has held many exhibitions in Nepal and abroad: Indonesia, China, Japan, Canada, The United States, Australia, Sweden, India and Bangladesh. She has also received the Australian Himalayan Foundation (AHF) art award in 2009. Special Award on Contemporary Sculpture,” from The National Exhibition of Fine Arts, and, “Special Award on Woodcut 2013,” from The Nepal Academy of Fine Arts.
Sushma’s second solo exhibition titled, “Chaitya,” was held in 2010 at Siddhartha Art Gallery. As a conceptual artist, she lets the concept lead her to the necessary medium in which to communicate the most effectively. Although her work is diverse, there is a pervasive philosophy of achieving balance in life; Sushma requests her audience to question the causes of imbalance.
Uma Shankar Shah
Cityscape, Painting and Printmaking
The artist paints the myriad faces of the city in perfect symphony to develop interesting imagery of colorful “City Skylines”. He creates rows after rows of panoramic rooftops in an amazing ensemble of pagoda, like structures with minimum appearances of Buddhist stupas or pagoda tops. Over it, dominant oriental paper lanterns seem suspended in the air. The painting has admirably expressed the old charm and mysticism of Kathmandu in his own artistic language.
Uma Shanker Shah is a renowned and award-winning artist from Nepal. He was born in Janakpur in 1963. After his graduation in Painting (1988), he pursued further education in Painting and completed his post-graduation in 1991. Between 1984 and 2017, his solo shows have been exhibited in different galleries, mostly in Jahagir Art Gallery, Bombay, Shreedharni Art Gallery, New Delhi, India Visual Art Gallery, New Delhi, Gallery Ganesha, New Delhi, Juno Art Gallery, South Korea, Siddhartha Art Gallery, Nepal. He has also participated in international shows in Bharat Triennale, Asian Museum Japan, France Triennale, Bangladesh Biennale, and Miami Art Fest Doral.
He has participated in several other solo shows and group shows held nationally and internationally. He has won the Best Etching Award at Art Fest Doral in Miami twice in 2013 and 2014. His works incorporate the forms and contents of early Nepali religious and folk arts and they depict the image of nature and Hindu mythologies appealing for the preservation of the natural and cultural heritage of Nepal. He is presently a Lecturer of Painting in Tribhuwan University, Department of Fine Arts, Kirtipur Kathmandu, Nepal.
Umesh Shah
Hidden Reality, Paintings
The main influence of Umesh’s artwork stems from Mithila and Ancient Egyptian Art. He traces these art forms from his childhood and ancestors. The uses of forms and lines are inspired to express his own ideas. Using a combination of the art forms of his ancestors and the modern art in which he has been trained. He is depicting everyday life in the 21st century.
Umesh Shah is a painter from Sarlahi Nepal. Growing up in the Sarlahi southern part/ countryside of Nepal, Umesh Shah observed his grandmother making traditional Mithila art on the walls during family functions and festivities. These early moments of watching village women paint their stylized figures and motifs with natural pigments and clay would become a source of inspiration for Umesh. Mithila art and it’s motifs ultimately became the signature style that viewers and collectors today have come to recognize as Umesh Shah.
Umesh Shah has already done six solo exhibitions in Nepal and India and participated in three national exhibitions and many group exhibitions and workshops in Nepal, India, Japan, Taiwan and Russia. He has participated in 1st Print Biennale India 2018. His works are in major public and private collections in Nepal, India, China, Taiwan, Europe, South America and the USA.
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