Chitrakar, who believes that creativity and any form of art is what makes humans superior to animals, says, “There’s a sort of misconception in Nepali people that art is now elitist or too sophisticated for public, and my campaign is to clear that misconception.[break]
“The very first step is to talk about it,” he adds.
Termed as a collaborative solo, Chitrakar has used different iconic paintings and images from other artists, photographers and his own, amalgamating it with his thoughts spelled out in speech bubbles as he fantasizes that people are “aware and talking about arts.”
“It’s very important that you acknowledge any creative piece that you borrow. That’s why I call this event a collaborative solo as I’ve used iconic images, and as far as possible, with their consent,” says Chitrakar.
He also believes that an exhibition is a collective effort, like making a movie, and never a solo project as it always has more than just the artist working to make it a success.
In this upcoming event, the first from the series of Artivities, Chitrakar has used a lot of local motifs and local scenarios, like the familiar streets of Thamel or Singha Durbar and famous paintings and images from those of Shashi Bikram Shah, Manuj Babu Mishra, Min Bajracharya, to Klimt and Picasso.
Painting familiar places, he says, will not just make the art more relatable but will also give that impact to make people think of that space again and redefine their forms.
Besides his photographs-based acrylic paintings to be displayed at the event, Chitrakar informs that the upper floor of the gallery will have three blank canvases on which he will be working throughout the exhibition period.
“I want to get the audience involved in the art process and have their thoughts on art incorporated in the series too,” he says.
For an artist, who says he previously was a narcissist, creating art just for himself and not concerned if the audience got the message in them, or not, admits that he felt a bit disconnected with the audience during his artistic growth.
“Now, I want to get the message clear that art has to be talked about, so I use the combination of visuals with written texts which is as blunt and as powerful as can be,” he shares. This time, he is also planning to hand out posters of his artsworks so that art can be more accessible to the public.
The exhibition will be a venture into the campaign that Chitrakar has envisioned since as long as he has been practicing art. He looks forward to have other series of annual events such as this, which breaks the confinement that art suffers from at present and encourage the public to reach out to art and encourage art to reach out to the public.
Sangeeta Thapa, curator of Siddhartha gallery, says she has been waiting for Chitrakar’s “let’s talk about ART baby!” for six years now. “He’s one of the most exciting and novel artists here. He doesn’t want just a show but wants to come out and make a bold statement every time, so this is definitely something to look forward to,” she adds.
After having postponed the campaign several times, as he had been immersed with his students heading the Kathmandu University Center for Art and Design, he always felt the timing was never right.
For Chitrakar, he says it is now or never. And he is ready to do this with all he has got, as artist/art writer Madan Chitrakar puts it, “with his unswerving zeal to propagate the message of Art” that Art should be everywhere, art should be accessible, and that Artivities are happening everywhere.
Chitrakar’s “let’s talk about ART baby”! with his large-scale collaborative paintings starts on December 17, and will run at the aforementioned venue till January 27. For all ART lovers, this is something you would not want to miss out on.
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