“Let’s Meet” is how artist, graphic designer, illustrator Anubhav Som titles his solo exhibition, inviting people to see, feel, talk and share their experiences. The exhibit’s effort, says Som, an MFA from Banaras Hindu University, is to express himself as an artist and designer. As part of Let’s Meet, which opened Monday at Casa Bella Vista, Sector 10, Som presented a series of works.
The watercolors depict Benares in varying moods, hues, shapes, as he moves from realistic to surreal, studying and practicing work in compositions on fabric and paper.
Using various motifs from his works, Som also designed special products for the exhibition like notebooks, calendars, table clocks, mugs, postcards, t-shirt stoles, and more. A section is devoted to his ink work, depicting boats in Benares and also horses. Som also goes back in time to create a unique set of five sketches depicting the trees and life of Chandigarh.
“In 2007, my second year in Chandigarh, during my lonely hours, I would stand near roundabouts and draw. I bring the memories of the city from those years here, to share with people,” shares Som, who also made miniatures for the show, with elements of nature guiding the painstaking work.
Som says he loves drama and surrealism. “I grew up seeing the works of Bikash Bhattacharya, an eminent surrealist artist from India. Dali, Van Gogh, Henry Matisse are my favourites. From India, Somnath Hore, Ramkinkar Baij, GR Santosh, Sohan Qadri, Raza are my favorites, because they form my philosophy. Art for me is a lifestyle, it is a meaning and a sensitivity. Everything I do is part of it. It is an experience that I live daily and I expresses it in different forms and on different mediums,” says Som.
Som says that as an artist who is also a teacher in various design schools, he felt a gap between him and the public, because of a
lack of interaction due to the pandemic.
“Let’s Meet is my chance to meet people, to talk about the works, my ideas, the experiences that I translate on the web. My first experience of art dates back to my school years. I realized when I was asked to write that I was using to try and draw the letters. Since then, he has always accompanied me in all situations of life through happy and sad days, through ups and downs and even through this pandemic,” explains the artist, who now wants to work on a new series and also how it can contribute to society and humanity through art.
On Monday, Som paid tribute to Lata Mangeshkar by painting her in the studio, as he wrote: “Some people will never see each other again.”
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