A Million Lines: The Drawings of Partha Pratim Deb was a recently held show at Gallery K2 in Kolkata, where Professor Deb's discourse through drawings in a linear spectrum and monochromatic treatment recharged human emotions with subtle wit and greater sensitivity that generated a gamut of questions regarding human existence in the hybrid space of identity crisis and submission to the process of cultural degeneration.
Professor Deb is much more popular as ‘Parthada' among the artists' circle and art college students in Kolkata who in all these years of teaching experience since 1972 till 2005 has remained quite emblematic in not having a compromising attitude in his understanding of aesthetic language and execution of works. Professor Deb is one of the finest innovators in the art world who explored and exploited several mediums and gave a new dimension to create art from scraps and developed a novel language of installation art. Professor Deb was an exponent of Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan and did his Post Diploma in Painting from M.S. University , Baroda and then became the faculty of Visual Arts at Rabindra Bharati University , Kolkata. He retired as the Dean of the Faculty of Visual Arts from the same university.
He is an ever-fresh artist with a true spirit to revolt and go till any limit to give birth to a language that none other would even dare to think. He has that limitless tenacity to make art simply out of nothing challenging all established norms where no constrain can stop him in his way. Nurturing a free flow of creativity, Professor Deb is a great inspiration to the present generation of artists.
During this exhibition, Professor Deb came up with certain views regarding his own thoughts and working style along with a broader perspective of how things are changing in the art world. It was a nice opportunity for me to share a space with him and get to know his working philosophy in a wider way. Excerpts from the conversation… SM: What do you think to be the most important aspect behind any creation of an artwork?
PPD: I believe in the ‘essence' that must evoke from any creation. There was a time when I was keener in abstraction and structural elements. The journey from abstraction to figurative doesn't mean that you lose the basic essence of the thing. The pattern might differ but the fundamental nature remains the same. Thus, particularly the works for this exhibition, The Million Lines was actually a selection of my drawings where I have explored monochromatic brush strokes in black on white paper where figuration and abstraction merged and in a symbiotic nature got framed in the same space.
SM: You have always been experimental. Can you highlight this area in a precise way?
PPD: Every artist ought to be experimental; otherwise he/she is not an artist. Spontaneity is the core of my way of working in whatever medium I experiment with. And for the proper treatment of the content, I depend more on my sensations with simpler forms but wider meanings. It would be better if I exemplify the process I follow. Say for instance I am working with rope or broken tin, waste wooden blocks, used bottles and so many such items that are either obsolete or thrown away, the idea is to transform any object into an artistic discourse and also to defy the conventional tenets of art practice. Basically I simply don't go for the fundamental principles that you need pencil, colours, paper, canvas, board, or sculptural items to work out as an artist. You can just work out with whatever you have in front of you. It is you who will dominate the objects or the medium and not the reverse. Executing an art work is a psychological process that is supported by the mechanical or the technical inputs to bring it to a material shape.
SM: Don't you feel that somewhere you have been close to the Dadaists in your idea of execution of a work of art?
PPD: According to the Dadaists, Dada was an “ anti-art ” movement in the sense that Dadaists protested against the contemporary academic and cultured values of art. Dada represented just the opposite of everything that art stood for. Dada ignored aesthetics where art was concerned with traditional aesthetics . If art was to appeal to sensibilities, Dada was intended to offend. Through their rejection of traditional culture and aesthetics the Dadaists hoped to destroy all fundamental norms of art practice and in this way they actually rejected the capitalist bourgeoisie that made an art object a commodity.
Well, I have been inspired by Dadaism but calling me a Dadaist would be very much wrong. The basic mistake would be the context and the space where actually Dadaism sprouted and I don't belong to any of them. But in my own cultural and socio-economical space, I too need to protest any sort of hegemony and fundamentalism. In that way my experimentations with art medium and objects somewhere can get related to an ‘ism' though I don't purposefully intend to follow it. One show at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata in 1997 showcased my most experimental works based on installations that opposed all conventional parameters of paintings and sculptures.
SM: Do you believe in artistic freedom?
PPD: Freedom is very important for an artist to grow. But frankly speaking the word ‘freedom' has become very vague in today's context. The essence of freedom has gradually got diluted and what is being regarded as freedom is actually a show-off business.
In spite of such disillusionment, I recommend the artist to have a balancing scale where he/she must know the restricting point of getting deviated or diluted. And that is tough because you cannot be free from the world around you that will in fact regulate your intentions and the process of attaining them.
SM: What is your perception about the present art market?
PPD: I never depended on the art market throughout my career. It is only a few years that my works are being sold and getting a positive response in the art market. What I can state is that it is a good sign that the number of galleries has increased and the whole idea that artists survive on meager earning has been abolished. Young generation is getting a spellbound response through this marketable process but the biggest threat that remains is how much the market will overpower the artist's individuality and freedom.
SM: What message would you like to give as a teacher to the younger generation?
PPD: Believe in your attitude and try to create a language of your own. Don't get entrapped in the mirage of false hopes and expectations but balance yourself between two extremes of negativity and positivism with an individual approach. As a teacher I always gave my students absolute independence to think and develop the ideas of their own and I have experienced in all these years that it has really helped the fresh minds to develop a space for themselves and get well-established. So what more do you expect from me?
Well, with this fine note Professor Deb or Parthada concluded his vivid experiences and approach in dealing with fine creations, be it the million lines or the experimental sculptures/paintings that broke all conventions. And it is true that his awe-inspiring attitude boosts up the spirit of the younger generation of artists in every sense. |
