“I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you,” is what Frida Kahlo said long ago. Art and women always have had a secret relationship which extends beyond the canvas and galleries.
Women artists, even though in lesser quantity than their male counterparts, have left an imprint which has been indelible. When you think of the great women artists, a few names come to mind, instantly — Frida Kahlo, internationally, Indians, the likes of Amrita Shergill, Bharti Kher and Arpana Caur who recently had a retrospective stand out.
The Women’s Day Art Show at arts village by Shan Re and Dimpy Menon is that exploration into female form. Shan Re and Dimpy Menon, two senior veterans of the arts have carved out a successful career in art and their exhibits at the Arts Village are splendid works that leave an impression.
Each work of Shan’s can be considered as a complete poem in itself and it appears to be a sudden capture of a fleeting moment and has its own significance and beauty.
Each of her paintings have their own importance and uniqueness with free flowing forms and shapes, intense colours infused with mystical sensibility, and poetic humaneness.
Shan’s works provide the viewer with a revitalising sense of peace, stability and strong dynamic positive energy. Her paintings convey dramatic yet balanced visual expression.
Though, they are immersed in deep silence, they are trying to communicate with the viewer through her magical pictorial language, eternal beauty and tranquillity.
Her boldness and enchanting harmony of hues and shades overwhelms us with their intensity and provide a refreshing escape into pure colour.
Shan says, “Every drop of colour is a word written on the canvas.” Her high vibrational psychic energy is uplifting, illuminating and stimulating while offering hope, happiness, cheerfulness and joy.
For any woman to be a sculptor is a huge ask. Dimpy often ensures that the age-old belief of sculpture and women not being a match made in heaven is just a myth.
She has been recently awarded with a Florence Biennale Award. Her sculptures are mainly focused on the relationships between a man and a woman. The Art Show did stand out in terms of getting the best two woman artists showcasing on a day where womanhood is celebrated and what a way to celebrate than to witness art by these stalwarts.
— The showing is on till March 16 at the Arts Village. The writer is an art expert and curator.
