spring catalogue hkfineart gallery

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SPRING CATALOGUE

HKFINEART Gallery

original contemporary artwww.hkfineart.com

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Hong Viet Dung

Hong Viet Dung was born in 1962 in Hanoi and graduated from the College of Fine Arts in 1984. His works are characterized by the

use of sepia or other pale colors. His subjects express calmness and contemplation, usually

standing in solitude, sometimes holding a simple object. Dung is a devout Buddhist.

There is so much peace in his paintings that you could almost meditate in front of them.

His works capture only the essentials, leaving the viewers to their own imagination and

reflections. More recently, Dung has been painting landscapes. Often large canvases in pale monochromes, they wonderfully capture

the beauty and calm of rural Vietnam.


Le Thanh Son

Le Thanh Son is one of the senior most Vietnamese contemporary artists who enjoys

an international reputation. Colours and textures burst out of his canvas, and the simple landscapes of his homeland are transformed by the artist to magical and impressive imageries

and reflections of nature.


Veteran modern artist Manu Parekh is one of the few old-timers whose style and artistic

content have remained unchanged over the years despite the changing socio-political

circumstances around him. What has also not changed is his love for the Hindu holy city of

Varanasi (Benares). “My work has not changed with time, I am still working on the ‘Benares

Series’ - the one which I started 20 years ago. I am carrying it forward. The spiritual ambience of the town moves me. It is full of religious and

cultural nuances."

The artist, who was born in Ahmedabad in 1939 and studied in the J.J. School of Art in

Mumbai, feels India is an artist’s delight because of its “cultural diversity”.

“The country is full of different kinds of culture and colour. It all seeps into my work, along with

faith, which is the essence of my art,” said Parekh

Manu Parekh


M F Husain

M. F. Husain is the most recognised figure of modern and contemporary Indian art; he joined the Progressives Artists Group in

1948. A self-taught artist, Husain moved to Mumbai at an early age and began his artistic career by painting the billboards for cinemas. He recalls, "We were paid barely four or six

annas per square foot. That is, for a 6x10 feet canvas, we earned a few rupees. And apart from the New Theatre distributor, the others did not pay us at all. As soon as I earned a little bit I used to take off for Surat, Baroda

and Ahmedabad to paint landscapes".


Nguyen Thanh Binh

“In my work space takes up most of the canvas, composition is considered the most important point. Tones of color are mild and

fairly sad. Very few people and objects are in a painting. This is because I would like to

give my viewers a sense that the artist’s adventure is always a lonely one” - Nguyen Thanh Binh

Nguyen Thanh Binh is perhaps unique among Vietnamese artists as after many years he returned to his Asian tools by

conducting a study of oriental philosophy and aesthetics.

Although fond of many Europeans, notably Klimt and Gris, he felt he had to understand

himself as an Asian if he was to produce paintings which satisfied him and his feelings

as a Vietnamese. The philosopher Khong Tu, and especially his book Kinh Dich,

led Binh into the ways of Daoism and Zen, which are now heavily reflected in his work.


Do Duy Tuan

Born in 1954, Do Duy Tuan graduated from the Hue Fine Arts College. He has participated in many national and

international group shows and exhibitions and has won numerous awards.

Tuan's work is full of reminiscences and far-away memories of distant lands and

belongings, all depicted in a captivating and understated elegant format.

Textiles and fabrics are interwoven into the compositions adding depth and character.

They are juxtaposed with flat soft brushstrokes and colours used for the the main subject. His work is controlled and

measured. Do Duy Tuan's paintings are very beautiful.


A K Patnaik

A K Patnaik is an emotionally sensitive person and his paintings appear to be a direct reflection of his personality. The

images that emerge from his paintings seem to have tremendous depth in their characters

in spite of apparently mundane situations. The artist feels that the true depth of feelings

surfaces in emotionally moving circumstances and not necessarily in trying situations. There is intangibility in Patnaik’s

works, of words left unsaid, a certain sensitivity or sharing of feelings, and his

technique and choice of colours and textures accentuate that. 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.

Dinh Quan

Dinh Quan is well known for his elegant depictions with lacquer on wood. This is a

craft native to Vietnam and Dinh Quan uses it beautifully in his work. A piece of wood is treated first and then the artist applies as

many as thirty layers of lacquer to produce his work. Quan's work is beautiful, delicate and impressive. His creations are collected

internationally.


Buwa Shete

Born in 1960, Buwa is an artist with a penchant for the feminine form. He

completed a degree in applied arts from Pune in 1984. He has developed his own

style which has imprints of his rural upbringing juxtaposed with modern urban

values. The female protagonist is at the focus of most of his canvases. His contemporary modernist figures are done in rough strong

brush strokes. The characters have an ethereal existence entrenched in a world of

fantasy far removed from the real world. Buwa has won the national award and also an award from London Advertising in 1997.

He has participated in several solo and group shows and his paintings are in collections in

India and abroad.


T. Vaikuntam

T. Vaikuntam hails from Andhra Pradesh, in South India, and draws a lot of inspiration for his work from the rural areas of the state. The

men and women of his village have often been depicted in his work. Women, in

particular, are frequent subjects for his works. The love for this subject can be traced back

to his childhood, when he used to be fascinated by the impersonations of women characters by the male artists of the theatre groups that traveled to, and performed in his

village. He portrays women as sensual and

voluptuous. The colours used to paint women give them a vibrant and decorative, look. The male form appears remarkably calm, with a

sense of humour. His work has a distinct rural flavour. In his work, he uses only primary

colours. Most of his work is in tempera and watercolour, on paper.


Jayasri Burman

Jayasri Burman was born in an aesthetically inclined Bengali family in 1960. Her uncle

Sakti Burman is a renowned Bengali painter. Jayasri graduated in Fine Arts from the Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan and Visual College of Art, Calcutta. At the insistence of her uncle she went to Paris and studied print-making

under Monsieur Ceizerzi. The imagery in her work has a dream-like and lyrical quality with a unique sensitivity which, although inspired

by the Indian folk element, retains a quality of refreshing candour and reflective honesty.

She manages very successfully to weave the decorative and design element of the folk

idiom into the intricate patterns of her canvas, without losing the natural charm and naivete

of her work, which is uniquely her own.


Ramesh Gorjala

A talented, upcoming artist, Ramesh Gorjala paints Indian mythological figures and themes with detail and sensitivity. For Gorjala, myth seems to be unfold into

endless narratives and emerges into the forms of Hanuman, Vishnu or Buddha, often

symbolic of protection and heroism. He completed his B.F.A. (Painting) from J.N.T.U.,

Hyderabad, India. Gorjala received the "Mahatma Gandhi Birth Centenary Memorial

Award" for the year 2000 from Victoria Technical Institute ( V.T.I.), Chennai. He has

held several group and solo shows internationally and in India.



Phan Thu Trang

Talented artist Phan Thu Trang was born in Hanoi in 1981 and

has been winning awards as a child artist from the age of five. A

graduate from the Theatre and Cinema University, Hanoi, Trang’s stylized and elegant depictions of landscapes and

sceneries have appealed to art collectors around the world.

The use of unusual pastel colours and flat broad controlled strokes and her constant

experimentation with compositions and different unique moods created on the

canvas, lends a special freshness and pride to her paintings.

Her work brings out the inner joy and beauty in us and invariably puts a smile on the

viewer’s face.


Nguyen Minh

Born in 1971 in Bac Ninh, Vietnam, Minh graduated in 2000 from the Hanoi Fine Art

College. He grew up in the northern Vietnamese countryside and the beauty of

his surroundings are captured in a raw, passionate and emotional style on all his canvases. Minh focuses on his favourite

themes of Vietnam countryside - thatched cottages, stacks of golden straw,

mysterious village gates, leisurely standing boats, vibrant flowering trees and blue calm

skies. His feelings are sincere and this helps

create poetic scenery in his works. Strong passionate brush strokes and vivid textures transport us into a colourful romantic world

of the artist’s imagination and create appealing and mesmerizing paintings. His

work appeals to a wide range of art collectors and are admired and purchased

by an international audience.


Nguyen Minh Phuoc

Born in 1973 in Hanoi, Nguyen Minh Phuoc graduated from the Hanoi Fine Art Institute in 1997. Inspired by his travels to Buddhist cultures, Phuoc

depicts the devotion and discipline of Buddhist monks in a very appealing

artistic style.

Fine intricate details on the monks and their robes and attires

contrast beautifully with the hazy brushed over textures in the

background. This tends to put the monks into focus as well as their

journeys for the search of fulfillment.

The paintings are serene and very beautiful and exude warmth and a

sense of respect and understanding of the monks' lives as well as the artist's

journey into the search of higher stages of life.


Umakant Tawade

A young and budding talent in the world of Indian art, Umakant Tawade has already

made his name as a contemporary figurative painter to be reckoned with. Fresh out of the Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art in 2002, armed

with a Bachelor's Degree, Tawade has already become comfortable on the Mumbai

exhibition circuit and regularly shows his works. Umakant has participated in several group exhibitions, including the prestigious

Bombay Art Society show in 1999. The artist is best known for his series of paintings that

depict figures, with extremely expressive faces that show each one's distinct and

individual characteristics. The central monk-like figures seem to be involved in absorbing relationships with the others around them as

well as with their environments. Tawade's lines are strong and insistent and his

canvases ring with predominantly dark browns and ochres but do occasionally

reveal bright patches of colour in the clothing or through a window.


Mousumi Biswas

Mousumi completed her Masters in Fine Arts (Painting) from Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharti,

Santiniketan in 2005 and in 2003 Bachelor of Visual Art (Painting) from Govt. College of Art

and Craft, Kolkata. She has had several group and solo shows internationally. In

2005, she won the Kolkata Art Foundation Award and the ‘Rathin Maitra Award’ from

Govt. College of Art and Craft in 2003.

"In my works I juxtapose multiple images. I always try to make a visual equation or

chemistry between different images. But most of the time I try to make a hopeful result from them. I love to paint the spirit of living objects

like flying birds or colorful flowers".


Binoy Verghese

Born in Koothattukulam (Kerala), India, 1966, Binoy qualified with a National Diploma in

Fine Arts, R.L.V. College of Fine Arts, Kerala. Binoy’s work embodies a challenge and

redemption as he raises his voice through his paint brush against the traditionally held

views like body as the abode of soul or black is ugly. He also challenges the media images

of women as ‘timeless’ beauties, by redeeming his protagonists and putting them

back where they ‘belong’. A realistic appearance counter balanced by a dreamy coding outlines Binoy’s photo-like imagery. An empathetic person himself, his works

impart a distinctively humane and compassionate experience. He has received

several awards to his credit including the National Academy of Arts, New Delhi, a

fellowship from the Madhavan Nair Foundation, Kochi and a scholarship from the Arnawaz- Vasudev Charitable Trust and the Artist of the Month award by the Max Muller Bhavan, Chennai. He has held several one-

man shows and has participated in many national and international group exhibitions.

Binoy has traveled widely for artists’ camps in India and abroad. His most recent success has been a critically acclaimed solo show in

New York.


Farhad Hussain

Born 1975 in Jamshedpur, India, Farhad completed his B.F.A in Painting from Kala

Bhavan, Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan in 2003 and M.F.A in Painting from

M.S.University, Baroda in 2005. He has participated in many solo and group shows

nationally and internationally in Singapore and in Hong Kong in 2006. Farhad received the

Nasreen Mohamedi Scholarship from M.S.University, Baroda in 2004. He was also awarded the most promising artist by India

Habitat Centre in 2006.


Pradeep Mishra

Pradeep Mishra draws on the natural world for the subjects of his paintings. Animals,

birds and plants, as the artist’s main choice of subjects, portray his environmental concerns

and his sensitivity towards the effects of present ecological imbalances. The deep

intensity shown in his subject’s eyes, animal or human, blatantly displays their discontent.

The fiery red colour that often fills up the background in Mishra’s canvases, adds to the defiant nature of his content. Born in 1977 in Tumsar, Maharashtra, Mishra completed his

Bachelor’s degree in Painting from the Sir J.J. School of Art in 2002, followed by his

Master’s degree from the same institution, in 2004. After his graduation, Mishra was

selected for the residency program at Khoj, New Delhi, in the same year.


Madhu V

Born in 1976 in Kochi, Kerela, Madhu V completed his BFA in Painting in 1998 at the College of Fine Arts , Thiruvananthapuram.

He has participated in several group and solo shows. In this series of work, he introduces

an almost self-contained object-world comprised of an assortment of tools,

implements and organic matter that suggest another, now mostly forgotten sense of time where the laboring body might still have had some sense of continuity with the cycles of

the natural world and its seasons, and where the social habitat was likewise attuned. The objects themselves are diverse, and draw

upon a limited but varied inventory of images that the artist has acquired and put together

over the years.


Revati Sharma Singh

Born in Himachal Pradesh, Revati’s academic pursuits have exposed her to the ethos of big

cities like Delhi, Mumbai,Singapore and London, and have shaped her trajectory as an

artist.

The first Indian woman to have her own solo at the Kings Road Gallery in London,Revati’s

works reflect the metamorphosis in her thought process and are an amalgamation of heartfelt thoughts, strikingcolours, bold strokes and the play of textures. Be it her live installations like ‘Toilet Maze’ or ‘Mera Desha Mahaan?' or her seamless transition onto the canvas, which she successfully achieves without employing any

gimmick.

The complete unselfconsciousness and lack of pretentiousness in her work appears to stem from the artist herself and the down-to-earth quality that resonates from her.From idyllic landscapes to scratching the façade of the

Indian social fabric, this thinking artist’s work transcends thecommonplace.

Her canvas is an exploration of her milieu, an endless odyssey which showcases the

experiential realities of her life, leaving the art world mesmerized and craving for more.


Ratnakar Ojha

"Most times expressions of my portraits are pathos. But I use bright and unnatural colours

to highlight joyful moods and exuberance. Colours are life of a painting and I use

maximum hue to create depth in my work."

Ojha's trademark is vibrant colour and figurative work not to mention the reflection of

extremes of emotion. He has depicted women in a pensive mood, their melancholy

evident in their slanting eyes and inward gaze. Born in a village in the Keonjhar district

of Orissa in 1957, one of his strong influences was his grandmother. "She used to make clay dolls for us to play. She also encouraged me to do something about my

interest in drawing and paintings" reminisces Ojha. Besides, the natural surroundings of his village in Orissa reinforced his use of

dramatic colours in his paintings. He studied at the Government College of Art and Crafts, Orissa, at the Indira Kala Sangeet University

and at the Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai.


J M S Mani

The simple, rustic folk of the Deccan Plateau in South India, with strong Dravidian features,

are the subjects of J.M.S. Mani's paintings. His art is an amalgamation of Indian culture

with Occidental Western formalism. His figures are modeled in three-dimensional

form, with bold brushwork, similar in style to those of the impressionists.

Mani chooses to depict his characters, the balloon seller, the women with a rooster, in a simple and uncluttered manner. They narrate an untold tale; a tale that tells of the origins of

an entire race. Though seemingly simple, Mani's images too, are representative of an

entire civilization. The pulsating colours in his paintings offset the dark skin of his

characters, creating a sense of drama in his compositions. And it is his colours and

compositions which are expressive, rather than the figures themselves.

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