News Desk, News Nation 360 : The renowned artist Ganesh Haloi's first-ever large-scale exhibition in his hometown of Kolkata is being presented by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in association with the Birla Academy of Art and Culture. The museum is thrilled to be in Kolkata. The chosen pieces of art cover six decades of painting. From his earliest pieces, which featured figural image imprints, to his constantly changing colour fields, which hint at memories and emotional experiences that influenced his reactions to the natural world and architectural design. Haloi's artistic focus has grown over time to include re-composing land, with his multi-layered picture plane being sensitive to details sparked by memory and imagination. In its most subtle forms, abstraction dissolves the definiteness of objects and releases the tangible site, highlighting the poetics present in a trace, a fragment, a minute detail, a shadow, or a perceptive moment. His enclosed and bordered pictorial fields reveal swatches of ploughed and sown land, ethereal bodies of water with richer hues, and a delicate web of glowing pieces. His autobiographical works
describe the earth as the subject and symbol of life in great and vivid detail. Ganesh Haloi's early artistic work was profoundly shaped by his experiences growing up near the mighty Brahmaputra River. His paintings captured the natural world's raw power: floods, gentle breezes, agricultural labour, and river crossings. The river's moods and the surrounding wetlands deeply influenced his memories of his childhood home in Jamalpur. Of particular impact was the 'aangan' or courtyard, which frequently flooded– a space both protected and exposed. This image of the courtyard became a recurring theme in Haloi's work, evolving into a broader metaphor for open, expansive spaces where memory and the present intermingle. His art ultimately reflects a deep connection with the earth, exploring its shifting seasons, cycles, and the boundless interplay between space and time. The exhibition will be enhanced by his vivid gouaches on paper, his fluid Chinese ink drawings on Japanese scroll paper, his tempera on board, and a few pieces on Ajanta. This exhibition, which features over a hundred pieces, honours Haloi's indisputable contribution to Indian art through his distinctive body of work and vision.
Pic - Krishnendu Kundu
