Those who are familiar with Sagar Bhowmick’s oeuvre know him to be a master of realism. From his incredibly sensitive depictions of the joys of childhood to his almost obsessively detailed contemporary still lives, he is able to combine virtuoso skill with thought-provoking content to create paintings which linger in the viewer’s mind. The body of work on display is a departure from his usual themes but very much in the tradition of analyzing and developing a motif and using it as a metaphor to articulate ideas and experiences.
The depiction of flora in contemporary art practice is unusual and rare. What at first glance may appear repetitive and decorative is, in fact, an intuitive set of visual inquiries into the tension between the natural and artificial; the sublime and the banal; the real and the substitute. The psychedelic colours and industrial forms emphasize the fragility of natural life and humankind’s appalling ability to destroy beauty. The concretisation of flowers depicts urbanisation, global warming and climate change. The petals are filled with realistic oil colours and the background have shades of hue which in turn depicts how the flowers are losing its beauty and worse, its existence because of the global warming.
Flowers resonate with every culture and tradition, enriching life and playing crucial and significant roles in every human story. Bhowmick uses the flower to conjure and evoke shared experiences while referencing a wide range of societal issues. A layered and textured reading of the work throws up questions about notions of abundance, celebration and transience within an industrialized, consumerist society. It also ties in with notions of global warming where the flora is losing its vitality, being reduced to a colourless, insipid entity without form, meaning and significance.
As with all Bhowmick’s works, these canvases too are exquisitely rendered. There is a sense of extravagance, indeed over-indulgence about some of the flowers which effectively convey the excesses of the society in which we live. Aesthetically pleasing yet conceptually sound, the rich vibrant palette complements the imagery.
Notably, Sagar Bhowmick is India's foremost hyper-realistic painters who received a BVA degree in Indian College of Arts and Craftmanship and was a gold medalist. In the course of his career, he has received numerous awards and accolades including the Government of India's National Scholarship in 2001. His works can be found in Lok Sabha and West Bengal Legislative Assembly.
Here are some pictures of his realistic paintings:
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