Renesa presents its new painters

As far as I am concerned, a painting speaks for itself. What is the use of giving explanations, when all is said and done?A painter has only one language.

- Pablo Picasso [break]

Like the veteran artist Picasso said, the beautiful landscapes and portraits exhibited at the Nepal Art Council (NAC) in Babar Mahal speak a lot about itself. Unlike many of those abstract arts that many of us have been going through in recent times, these paintings at the NAC are way simpler to understand.

After hosting a series of exhibitions entitled “Beauty of Colors” and “Beauty of Hearts,” the students of Renesa Institute of Fine Art have added another ensemble to promote their students studying fine arts. “Beauty of Light,” their eighth ensemble, is all about a proper blend between colors and lighting. The exhibition that got inaugurated last Tuesday will run through next Monday at NAC.

From landscapes to human portraits and from nature to animals, 13 students of the institute have sprayed their ideas of collecting the details beautifully on the canvases. No, the paintings are no masterpieces and it’s nothing that you have not seen before. Nonetheless, they do not take you to boredom, and each of them at the exhibition takes you deep into the details.

Dominated mainly by watercolor and oil paint, it’s worth watching the creative output because they are not made by any household artists of the town. Some minuses can be overlooked if you sit to realize that the works have been done by amateur students of the institute. It’s nothing new to see holy places like the Krishna Mandir, Pashupati Nath, Patan Durbar Square and Nepali landscapes on the canvases. Like Henry Ward Beecher said, “Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures,” it’s fun looking at those things that you’ve seen often been portrayed differently; that is with a special touch from the artist’s own imagination.

As you start peeking through the exhibition, you will find how Nitisha Subba, 19, is in love with nature because her canvases mainly comprise of green fields and mountains. Drishti Manandhar and Biren Acharya’s sketches are not that extraordinary but Ashiqua Nepal’s Cape Town city and snowfall will leave you mesmerized. Shikha Pradhan’s creativity takes you truly to the dense forest lanes of Godavari and will remind you of your last visit to the temples around the Patan Durbar Square. And for those who have never been to places like Taudaha near Dakshinkali, Duwakot and Damitar, Pradhan’s paintings tell you much about such locales.

When some of the paintings are too stale to look at as one finds nothing so “wow” in them, Rabindra Tuladhar’s lavish portraits and the color combinations break the monotony.

Tuladhar’s dedication seems profound because he has made sure that his imaginations are crystal clear to all those who go through his art. Things are not made complicated in his work and even simple human portraits are made beautifully in terms of color combinations and brightness.

Mekh Bahadur Limbu Subba’s approach to think beyond the box needs a special mention. His creativity outstands amongst all other works at the exhibition. It may be because he represents the senior-batch students from the Institute and he has also completed his diploma in fine arts from the Lalit Kala Campus. His 3D effects, acrylic touch and his way of analyzing simple things in a different manner is worth praising. When many landscapes made and exhibited look so overdone, the same landscapes made by Limbu look like a complete new package. Even while playing with mono colors, Limbu works are eye-catching.

What is disappointing to see in the exhibition are the expectations students have from people for their creativity that they have exhibited. At a time when they say their imagination can’t be rated and it’s priceless, most of the paintings are ranged randomly for sale. For example, some too common landscapes not bigger than 14 inches are also ranged at Rs 8, 000 to Rs 10,000. Even human portraits without colors are tagged on sale for Rs 5, 000. When some are deserving, many are priced without any serious thought.

“We’ve labeled some of the paintings on high price because it took us a lot of time and energy,” said Mekh Bahadur Limbu.

However, it’s quite surprising to see beginner students labeling Rs 100,000 to Rs 200, 000 each for their canvases.

“Yes, we’ve realized that some of the paintings are tagged on quite a huge amounts and if they don’t get sold, we’ll have no option than to keep them with ourselves. But, again, these are masterpieces, and we believe people will understand that the amount we have set for them is nothing in comparison to the beauty it holds,” Limbu concurred.