'URBANIA' - AN EXHIBITION @ BIRLA ACADEMY,CALCUTTA

INTERESTING DISPLAY OF HIRAN MITRA'S CREATION

  A view of URBANIA

Hiran Mitra is a person who has dabbled in various departments of  visual art . He has not only 'created' displays of wall-relief like canvasses - as we found in 'URBANIA', he has  designed cover of little magazines, designed sets & props of  stage,  shot films. He has  a distinct style which is said to impress activists of various media !

 Effect of crushed paper on small lights fixed on floor.

We were attracted to this exhibition by a long article in the Sunday edition of 'Pratidin' newspaper.  As  such an article is expected to be, it contained a lot of flowery language - yet a veiled criticism that Hiran Mitra tends to repeat himself. This was our 1sxposure to his work - therefore we found  the collection interesting.

 These paintings on paper stand out among the  display of BASRELIEFs.

A good part of it was Basrelief. Canvass, sand, thermocol, corrugated paper  and  paint. There were quite a few  framed paintings on paper too - bearing his trademark style - quite interesting, very pleasant. He  made floor interesting with  crushed paper on lights and small works of art. It was very clear that he is very concerned and careful of the total presentation.

We found  Hiran Mitra is quite an accessible and affable person. He did not mind us taking photos of his work and display. A gentleman  in kurta-pajama was taking notes very seriously. I was curious to finding out if he was making sketches - tried to engage him in a conversation. He avoided me - I felt like taking a photo of this serious person, but, resisted the urge.

Standing alongside Hiran Mitra.

There was an exhibition of Kalpana Shah on the 1st floor of Birla Academy - the subject is display of  fabric in abstract art form. I thought of taking a few shots - but the watchman asked me not to click as photography of her work is not allowed by KS.

 The only canvass of Kalpana Shah I could click !