The essence of Oriental Art

Gopal Chandra Saha's solo exhibition at EMK Center

The main intention of practicing oriental art is to divulge the splendid and affluent traditional art of Asia to save and nurture the continuity of our own art trend. Following the objective and principle of Bengal school, which initiated in opposition to western academic realism, the students of Oriental Art department of Government Art Institute, (currently known as Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka) have been practicing this genre of art since mid fifties of the last century.
Gopal Chandra Saha is one of the promising disciples of this genre of art. He demonstrates his impulsive talent in oriental expressions, with minute details. The artist usually portrays women in natural settings. He also focuses on the female visage and various aspects of nature in symbolic manner. His faces symbolise dreams, beliefs and desires. Warm colours, technical detail and mellow textural intensity are common traits of his works.
Several of Saha's works denote serenity and crystal blue has been focused. It seems that the shade is the symbol of quietness and has a heavenly touch. His watercolours have a sense of sophistication and tranquility about them. The works are elegant with striking female figures and varied symbolic representation. Over the years, sitting women, contemplative and romantic belle as well as historical personalities have been recurring themes in his works. Female forms take centre stage against kaleidoscopic backgrounds -- often drawing one's attention from the centre of the work. Most of his works have a touch of cubism, and he prefers to go into details and his lines are provocative.
Saha's images attempt a difficult compromise between the lyrical abstraction and the pictorial articulation where line and colour are vital ingredients. His works assume a somber look, with blue predominating. For him, blue has the simple but symbolic role of bringing out a serene and quiet quality. His images employ varied shapes like geometric patterns and forms of synthetic cubism.
It has also been observed that Saha's has a great fascination towards pure abstraction (in several of his works) where forms and compositions have been highlighted. He constructs an image and then he deconstructs it, only to recreate it. Well-drawn figures, forms and meticulously created compositions make several of his images memorable. His mages also keenly capture fragmented visions inspired by fragmented narrative structure. At his ongoing exhibition, his works also highlight a combination of contemporary geometric shapes and kaleidoscope forms. The artist has used figures and motifs derived from his whimsical visions.
Gopal Chandra Saha'a solo art exhibition titled "Oporoop" is now on at EMK Center (Edward M. Kennedy Center for Public Service and the Arts), Midas Center, Dhanmondi, Dhaka. The exhibition was inaugurated on January 13 and will continue till January 25.