KATHMANDU: The massive destruction caused by the earthquake of 2015 in Nepal is simply unforgettable. And artist Joyti Prakash BK’s sixth solo painting exhibition ‘11:56 AM’, takes you back to the devastation, while portraying the artist’s reaction to the tremors.

A total of 27 paintings are on display in the exhibition that began on March 20 at Nepal Art Council, Babermahal. Semi-abstract portrayal of urban settlements and landscapes among others present the artistic take on the quake powerfully. While few of his works are unique, some are similar to the previous works of the artist.

BK, who usually paints semi-abstract landscapes, has created an urban settlement in ‘Saga’, one of his paintings on display. It is a beautiful settlement with houses and religious monuments before the earthquake. And BK has beautified it with the hues of golden, white, blue, black, and red to paint the motifs like moon, sun, colourful prayer flags, religious monuments and architecture of the city.

In another painting ‘An imagination of Earthquake’, he has portrayed the same city destroyed by the quake. This time, BK has created the same urban settlement but without any religious monuments. Rather it is covered with white fog. White fog denotes the dusty environment generated by houses those collapsed during earthquake. Meanwhile, the use of red, yellow and gold in the houses symbolises people’s (of the settlement) hope and courage.

This hope of people is further enhanced in two other paintings — ‘We Will Rise’ and ‘Dignity’. These two works are different from what BK has been painting in his earlier works. A small statue of Buddha has been installed in the centre of the canvas in ‘We Will Rise’. Surrounding it are black threads, forming a Mandala of black threads. The artist has also painted landscape in black, red and golden hues in the same painting.

In case of ‘Dignity’, a lid of a vessel is placed at the bottom of the canvas and it is a landscape painting.

Painted post quake, Buddha, and lid of these two artworks are not just motifs of his paintings. They signify people’s aspirations to which BK elaborates, “During the time of enlightenment Buddha had to face various difficulties — devils tried to destroy his concentration required to attain enlightenment. But Buddha never gave up and did not get scared or lost his concentration. These paintings symbolise the need for similar concentration, courage and hope to get move ahead and stay strong after the earthquake.”

The exhibition is on till March 30.