Kathmandu

Paintings and photographs of objects we see in our everyday life adorn the walls of Taragaon Museum, Boudha. The artworks — photographs by Bijaya Maharjan and paintings by artists Dhwoj Gurung and Neera Joshi Pradhan — are a part of the exhibition ‘The Three Vignettes’ that kicked off on January 29 at the Museum.

Each artist has used different medium to showcase their works. Maharjan has used photography, Gurung has used water colour while Joshi Pradhan has used acrylic on canvas. What is common in their works is the depiction of those things we see in our everyday life but overlook them.

Maharjan has captured the texture of houses and kitchen rooms of Mustang giving an impression of abstract art in his works. One of the photographs has just framed the main door of a house and its surrounding wall and floor. The wall is in orange colour while the floor is cream and the door frame is dark brown. In contrast to the orange wall is a blue plastic bucket near the door. He has shot simple objects that we see everyday yet they have the capacity of being an work of art.

Telling simple stories of busy streets of Kathmandu, resting cattle, vendors, et cetera is Gurung. A woman is sitting under the sun while few bamboo baskets (doko) lie beside her, in one of his paintings. And few clothes are hung to dry. Playing with the light and shadow, Gurung has effectively captured the sun’s warmth where he has used yellow, white, brown, black and more colours to represent the same.

And Joshi Pradhan has painted only flowers with emphasis on the line details in their petals. You can find a rhythm in her paintings where the circular and straight lines seem to play with darker and lighter shades of different colours. In one of her paintings, she has taken reference of magnolia flower to create a semi-abstract work in the hues of white, yellow, brown and red. The lines and colours have been played in such a way that you feel like a never ending circular movement is going on in the painting, creating an optical illusion. It gives an effect of smoke coming from incense stick.

The exhibition is on till February 8.