Celebrating relationships

Human figures have always been central to his works. His subjects revolve around partly clad men and women engrossed in their emotions. Gender issues, human psyche and interpersonal relationships of people in society, are the underlying themes that reflect Odia painter Asit Kumar Patnaik’s interest.

He lays a lot of emphasis on the unspoken dialogue which is being expressed through  the eyes of his subjects. Although there is eye contact between the figures, several times the contacts are not merely with each other but with the forces and life beyond.

Series on Relations

His two popular series are ‘Intriguing Relations’ and ‘Inviolate Relations’. While in Intriguing Relations, Asit depicts the stage where men and women were trying to figure each other out from a distance, in Inviolate Relations he portrays overlapping bodies and physical proximity. Both the series revolve around semi-clad male and female figures captured in a series of complex, multiple and open ended postures. Through his paintings, Asit wishes to prove to people that there is nothing wrong in getting attracted towards somebody and expressing it by getting intimate.

“The attraction between a man and woman is very natural and human. They have been made for each other. But certain people in our society don’t want to celebrate its purity. For example, a simple thing like Valentine’s Day gets so much flak as if it’s a big crime for men and  women to bond with each other. In many public places, people are excited to disturb a couple by harassing them. It’s so ridiculous  and I really don’t understand why people don’t want to accept this natural law,” says Asit.

The artist has also produced a series of works on gender issues. “I deliberately colour the hair of the women red in my paintings to show empowerment,” he says.

In many of his untitled works under this series, Asit draws the woman fenced by several men in the background. Men are not only many, they wear different colours too portraying different emotions. “The consignment of men in, and as, the background can be read alternatively as both a tribute to the confident urban women and a tentative peek into the corridors of uncertainty in which, men today find themselves,” the artist says.

This apart, he has a series of experimental drawings where there is no formal or thematic order of lines, although all display a profusion of emerging heads against a thickly textured background of layered and intricate networks of colours, lines and shades.

Technique & Colours

Marked for their seductive look and sensuous appeal, his men and women appear dramatic and harmonious in bold colours. In a majority of the works the space inhabited by individual figures is distinguished by separate background textures. Sometimes the figures themselves inhabit a single frame and are largely garbed with shades of the same basic colour.

His technique and choice of colours and textures accentuate his figures. He appears to be in full control of the medium and is confident of bold strokes and experimentations to bring out his feelings on canvas. The subjects are simple, yet its the treatment that brings out the beauty in his creations.

Accolades Galore

The New Delhi-based artist who was a gold medallist at the National Youth festival and Benaras Hindu University, points out that though Odisha has a number of talented artists, lack of timely exposure has hampered their progress towards national recognition.

His graduation at the Government College of Art and Craft, Khallikote in Ganjam enriched his artistic sensibility; but the opportunity to study different genres of art in the national capital helped him to establish himself there, explained the artist who recently exhibited his work in an art camp in Bhubaneswar alongside other prominent Odia artists.

Recipient of several awards, Asit has exhibited in nearly 30 solo and group shows at national level and abroad including the 10th annual Harmony show, where he was featured as the youngest participant in the ‘emerging artists section’. He has participated in numerous camps and his works are displayed at various public and private collections in the country and overseas including South Korea, Australia, Bangladesh and South Africa.