I have asked same questions to each selected artist from five different countries outside China. My intention is to know their different feelings and impressions of studying and living in China Academy of Art, and their future plan.
Yu Gan: Please tell me about yourself briefly.
Buddhadev Mukherjee: I was born in a middle class Bengali family in India in a small industrial town called Durgapur where my father was doing job in a power factory called D.P.L. Thus I grew up in an industrial town amidst factories and engineering plants.Inspired by my parents and uncle I enjoyed doing painting from my childhood. Gradually I decided that I will pursue painting and took admission in a premierart institution called Kala Bhavana (institute of Fine Arts) of Visva Bharati University located at a place called Santiniketan founded by great Indian poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore.From the beginning Chinese and Japanese art and culture have influenced the art practice of Kala Bhavana a lot. I studied under very eminent artists and art historians of Indian art scenario and came into close contact with the local life of Santiniketan.This helped me a lot to develop my understanding of art and its significance in life. After completing my Graduation I went to Baroda, another city of India in the western part, to pursue my Masters’. I took admission in printmaking department of Baroda Fine Arts Faculty of M.S.U.My fascination for drawing and etching grew and I found myself more comfortable with my linear vocabulary. After completing my M FA I went to a small town near Delhi, the capital of India, to do a job to support myself and family. Outside of any institute and facing the practical reality of life, loneliness, struggle for existence,migratingto a new city, home sickness and freedom of life – all these things together taught me a different value and dynamics of life. I found not only me but lot of people like me.At the same time I began to do drawings and paintings all depending a lot on the linear idioms and possibilities. After I left the job and went to Baroda again as a free-lance practicing artist.I have continued my art practice consistently and now I got Chinese government scholarship as a senior scholar to study in Chinese painting department, CAA.
Yu Gan: What is your main purpose of study at CAA?
Buddhadev Mukherjee: Now Chinese contemporary art is playing an incredible role in world contemporary art. Obviously the credit goes to the art institutions. CAA.has a long history and it played an important role to produce excellent artists in China as well as in the other part of the world. Chinese traditional painting practice as well as contemporary art practice both happened successfully in CAA.One the one hand I wish to learn the Chinese traditional painting and on the other hand I can see how my artist friends are exploring the art of this time. I feel that in my work there is a strong essence of Chinese traditional art. Studying at CAA.will help me to know deeply about both traditional and contemporary art. I consider myself lucky and feel proud as part of CAA.
Yu Gan: Could you please describe the topic or idea of the work thatyou are currently doing?
Buddhadev Mukherjee: My past visual vocabulary was centered on the reflection of human psyche. Emotion, struggle, fear and burden of responsibilities in day to day life are the main concerns of my art.In the current social, political and psychological scenario we are no longer growing with freedom but are living as captive souls. Through my work I tried to present an almost darker view of the contemporary society, talking about the unnoticed but overlapping stories of dark urban life. The ‘Common man’ - hero of real life forms an important part in my work. From a distance my figures are seen like a faded crowd, almost like a texture. But when we concentrate and look closer one observes that every individual is talking about his own hidden stories in the same episode. My stories are hidden but loud, crowded yet subdued, talking about real and yet ignored world. Often there is a satirical rendering of the absurdities of the human life facing the harsh practicality of life. Inner energy and spontaneity of life is depicted through multiple lines and minimum color. The figures are overlapped with lines and they weave and connect the layers of untold stories which might not surface to the spectator from a distance. Viewers are invited to come closer and delve into the work to identify each figure and read each ones respective story submerged behind the rusted layers. In my interpretation, it is like discovering ones individual entity in the middle of countless faces.
But when I came to China I found myself in a different context. After staying for a few months in China I am sure that in two years it is impossible to understand properly the big country like China,and what I used to do in my art back home, cannot be continued here because local elements and physical experience are so different. Then there are two big challenges for me – the selection of subject matter and understanding of the technique of Chinese traditional painting in my way. As a conclusion, one way I am trying to observe China as a visitor. In this way I am depicting the daily life of China and its people according to my interpretation. Another aspect is the fact that I am away from my country and I am worried about family and friends, make me psychologically tensed and the fear of unexpected works within me deeply. Recently in my work I am concentrating on these two aspects but also enjoying the process of making art
Yu Gan: I am curious about your future plan. Could you tell me a litbit about it?
Buddhadev Mukherjee: Explore the possibility and produce good quality art work is my only future plan.
Artist statement
My visual vocabulary is centered around the reflection of human psyche. Emotion, struggle, fear and burden of responsibilities in day to day life .in the current social, political and psychological scenario we are no longer growing with freedom but are living as a captive soul. Through my work I try to present an almost darker view of the contemporary society, talking about the unnoticed but overlapping stories of dark urban life. The ‘Common man’ - hero of real life forms an important part in my work. From a distance my figures are seen like a faded crowd, almost like a texture. But when we concentrate and look closer one observes that every individual is talking about his own hidden stories in the same episode. Hidden but loud, crowded yet subdued, talking about real and yet ignored world. Often there is a satirical rendering of the absurdities of the human life facing the harsh practicality of life. Inner energy and spontaneity of life is depicted through multiple lines and minimum color. The figures are overlapped with lines and they weave and connect the layers of untold stories which might not surface to the spectator from a distance. Viewers are invited to come closer and delve into the work to identify each figure and read each ones respective story submerged behind the rusted layers. In my interpretation, it is like discovering ones individual entity in the middle of countless faces.
