Creative freedom can help make a masterpiece

Contemporary Indian artist Chittrovanu Mazumdar, who is showcasing his works in Dubai, says art is all about freedom and even commissioned works can become world-famous if the artist involved is given creative freedom.

Mazumdar, who is one of the renowned contemporary artists in India, was born in Paris in 1956 and comes from a mixed parentage, with a French mother and an Indian father.

He grew up in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) and in 1981, he graduated from the Government College of Arts and Crafts there. His works can be found in numerous public and prominent private collections both in India and the world over.

Talking to Emirates Business about how he became an artist in the first place, Mazumdar said: "I was brought up in an environment which was steeped in art. My father Nirode Mazumdar was also an established artist and I also had the privilege of having a few writers in my family. When I was growing up I was surrounded by art, literature and music, because my family had that bent of mind.

"I would constantly be watching my father paint and I used to just love the smell and the feel of paint. It was almost a sensual experience. My father used to give me paper and paint to potter around with and let me draw or paint whatever I wanted. He never tried to curb my creativity by teaching me the "proper" way to draw and paint or the "correct" form and colour. His non-interference opened my mind and new horizons opened up to me. And as I already had the creative genes in me the creativity came out on its own."

Mazumdar, who has held solo exhibitions in New York, London, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Dubai to name a few, is showcasing a mix of digital mediations and videos, at Bridge 2 Lobby, Precinct Building 2, DIFC. The solo show will run until tomorrow.

Asked if the concern expressed by artists and art lovers that the quality of work suffers in commissioned art is justified, Mazumdar said: "Yes it is true that quality does suffer. If there is intervention, then it's a sad exercise. Almost all commissioned work is always tied to either the patron's ego or politics.

"The artist should be free to exploit the situation, the emotions he is feeling. But the fact remains that not all commissioned work is tied. There are people who give artists all the freedom they need to express themselves as a result of which they create great works of art. For example, some of the work done by Michelangelo was commissioned and you know what he achieved with it," said Mazumdar.

"I also do commissioned work at times, but I believe that all commissioned work should be free. There has to be freedom and liberty to create what you want. You have to know how to take your freedom and only when there is a sense of liberty will you be able to execute something of worth."

Even though Mazumdar works with all mediums such as oil, acrylic, metal, wood and plastic, his solo show at DIFC includes digital mediations printed on archival paper as well as videos which have been inspired by the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.

The harsh topography of rural Jharkhand has long been an important feature in his work and Mazumdar has repeatedly explored its strange, enigmatic, almost lunar vistas. It forms the entire focus of this latest show in which series of photographs are presented along with a single channel video piece and a floor projection.

Mazumdar has created a series of landscapes, a series of earthscapes and series of works of an monumental structure and the intensity of his vision is immediately apparent in these works. It emanates not only from the extreme terrain that is his subject, but also from his manipulation of the images to produce a hightened level of expressive communication.

He has dissolved the distant horizons and created billowing cloud formations over the flat Jharkhand landscape which are abstract and expressive all at the same time. They very convincingly convey the menacing and rugged resistance of this unforgiving landscape and impart a symbolic analogy with the rural politics of an area that has long harboured rebel activity.

Talking about his association with Jharkhand he said: "My association with Jharkhand is age-old.

"My father had built a house there and we used to go there for holidays. I have great memories of those years and even now I go back to that house whenever I want to work as it provides me with a quiet sanctuary.

"It helps me rejuvinate and commune with nature. The landscape there is so intense, harsh, unfathomable and beautiful, all at the same time, that it continues to inspire me. The place is cathartic and it gives me back in so many ways."

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