About the Artist and his work :
About the Artist :
Born : Shyamal Mukherjee born in 1961 at Khanpur, West Bengal.
Education :
He spent all of his college years in Santiniketan, first completing his BFA in 1987, and then his MFA in 1989 from the Rabindra Bharati University.
An avid collector of rural Bengali artworks and crafts, Mukherjee’s work offers a contemporary interpretation of the traditional Bengal school style of art. His inspiration lies in the many interactions he has with people as he travels in and around Bengal. His figures, dressed in bright oranges, reds and greens relate the story of daily life and interactions among the people.
About his work :
In Mukherjee’s work, we see the Bengal School strong figurative tradition being carried ahead and interpreted in a very contemporary idiom. The artist also likes to focus on the fact that each individual has a great deal in common with every other one. This is why he paints people in pairs or larger groups, highlighting that though they are physically separate and unlike each other, there is no real difference between their characters and behaviours.
Mukherjee’s favourite medium is reverse oil or acrylic painting on transparent acrylic sheets, and he swears that although he may change his themes and subjects, inventing new ones for new shows, he will never give up painting in this medium.
