Salt, pepper and sex – on the table!

Creations, Jan '16
Pawan Dhall in conversation with advocate Kaushik Gupta, 44 and physician Dr. Archan Mukherjee, 33, both photography enthusiasts and creators of Colours of Love in . . . Monochrome, 2016, somewhat plain-sounding but easily the ‘hottest’ calendar in town – displaying it on your table may well call for revisiting and confronting your ideas about gender, sexuality and sexual pleasure

Photographs courtesy: Colours of Love in . . . Monochrome, 2016

Pawan: Before we flip through the calendar, let’s hear something about the creators.

Archan: I’m a photo artist and a doctor (Master of Public Health) and teach in a medical college – I travel between Kolkata and Durgapur for work.

Pawan: How did the combination of doctor and photo artist come about?

Doodle with dad

My Story, Aug '15
Debasmita Dasgupta’s artistic venture, mY FaTHer Illustrations, is a child rights campaign based on illustrated father-daughter stories. Started in 2014, it takes a fun step forward this month

Copyright for all artworks: mY FaTHer
Illustrations by Debasmita Dasgupta

It all started with one small step. One Sunday afternoon I came across a story of a father, who despite all odds never gave up the courage to defend the rights of his daughter. His story became the turning point in my life. I knew I wanted to do something but was caught between ‘what’ and ‘how’. That’s when my red sketchbook and pencil caught my eyes.

Before long I had taken the first step. I had illustrated my first father-daughter story and shared it online to spread some inspiration. The journey of mY FaTHer Illustrations continued as I kept looking for moving father-daughter stories from across the globe. Some I found; some found me. Platforms like Varta helped immensely to spread the word (click here).

Doodle your protest!

Creations, Dec '14

We are obsessed with Section 377, Indian Penal Code, aren’t we? Come December 11, and we couldn’t leave any stone unturned to push away this inglorious creation from our lives! As you can see, even doodling, that delightful and distracted art form has also been drawn in. We invited doodles to register protest on the first anniversary of the Supreme Court verdict on Section 377, and we got much more . . . thank you, all contributors . . . and we are looking for more at vartablog@gmail.com!

The art of coming out

Clickhappy! Feb '14

Vishal Tondon’s initial artworks were also expressions about his sexuality

The start of my career as a professional artist coincided, a decade ago, with the act of my coming out of the closet. I began my foray into the art world with religious-erotic art: homoerotic paintings inspired from the ‘male’ gods. Of course, this coming out did not happen dramatically over a couple of days; it took over a year as the artworks poured out and were exhibited in two shows across that year.

Unleashing desires

Clickhappy! Jan '14
Pankaj Gupta presents a painting series titled Munthan – Mun Ki Uljhan (Surfing of Emotions).

This is a story of nameless relationships that form and disintegrate every day . . . of social acceptance that never seems to come forth . . . why do we compel a person to surrender before society and live only with the hope that in the next birth there will be no need to hide one’s love in a closet . . . why don’t we accept the fact that a same-sex relationship can be as complete as any other . . . why do we belittle such relationships as ‘a western influence’ . . . why can’t we see them as a matter of choice . . . if we can’t choose our life partner irrespective of their gender and sex, what is the meaning of Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution . . . can’t we imagine the pain in living a life of constant self-denial, of not being able to experience the rainbow colours of life . . . why do we bloody tender aspirations with cruel words and deeds . . . why do we burden them with mountains of guilt, with layers and layers of false persona . . . enough is enough, stop this mindless babble of the natural and unnatural . . . stop condemning people and making their lives a living hell . . . let a thousand flowers bloom . . . live and let live. – Pankaj Gupta

Aathmika – born of soul

Happenings, Sep '13 (update 1)
Rudra Kishore Mandal and Pawan Dhall report on a debut painting exhibition by audio-visual journalist Amitabha Sengupta

Kolkata, September 8, 2013: ‘Aathmika – Born of Soul’, a six days long exhibition of paintings by audio-visual journalist Amitabha Sengupta, concluded at the G. C. Laha Centenary Fine Arts Gallery yesterday. Part tribute to womanhood, part expression of a long cherished desire to take up fashion and other arts, the painting exhibition was a debut effort by the artist and was inaugurated on September 2 by Odissi exponent and social activist Alokananda Roy. The paintings were also available for purchase.