Using Pitt’s artist pen on paper, artist Priyam Pradhan presents My Private Life, a showcase of the current significance of his life depicted in abstract form.
At the centre of the painting is a 1000-rupee note, within which Pradhan has intricately painted Lord Krishna, a man wearing a hoodie tenderly embracing his dog, and a woman. The woman stands tall, elongated in form. Towards the bottom of the canvas, a holy man reaches out his hands, appearing to be in flight.
Priyam Pradhan has used a vibrant colour palette, incorporating bright hues such as pink, orange, and yellow, as well as green, black, white, and grey. This combination adds a dynamic and lively quality to the artwork.
“The man in the centre is me and the girl in green is my girlfriend. And the faces are my mom and dad,” says Pradhan. “The sadhu (holy man) symbolises my desires that I don’t have many desires for materialistic things however I do understand the value of money.”
The use of colours, figures and lines in an abstract form in his painting resembles the painting of American painter Paul Jackson Pollock. Like his abstract expressionism, Pradhan has expressed himself in his painting.
Furthermore, this marks Priyam Pradhan’s third solo painting exhibition titled Mani (money), inaugurated on January 17 at Siddhartha Art Gallery, Baber Mahal.
In his previous exhibitions, Pradhan’s artworks centred around Hindu philosophy and his spontaneous thought process. However, in this latest exhibition, he explores the theme of money and its impact on an individual’s life, delving into the reverberating effects of financial aspects.
Understanding the value of money
Any form of art is known as a reflection of the contemporary time. Likewise, Priyam Pradhan’s paintings reflect the lifestyle, desires, obligations and more of today’s younger generation living in urban areas in Nepal.
Pradhan himself is in his 20s and he has justified the want of most of the youngsters in their 20s, who might be declared adults and understand the need for money and materialistic things but are still kids at their heart who want to explore and experience life as much as possible.
The exhibition has 27 paintings which Pradhan took around nine months to complete. According to him, while he was travelling the idea that his life was luxurious and him being capable of exploring anything he wanted to was because of money.
And being an artist this concept lingered on him and he was compelled to create on the theme of money.
Once you enter the gallery, you can also view an animated video, which introduces artist Pradhan and the importance of money, which is on the ground floor. On the first floor, a huge painting (193×62 in cm) Apatkalin Awastha using mixed media on canvas welcomes you and other paintings are small in size (18×30 in cm).
“It is a team work and it is my introduction as an artist for the exhibition,” he says. “Also, being a recent multimedia graduate from Islington College, I wanted to explore my skills and I got my team. Then, like money, multimedia is relevant to current society.”
Experiencing life through art
Priyam Pradhan says enjoyment is the meaning of life and he enjoys creating artwork. Moreover, Pradhan who came into the art world first being a tattoo artist feels blessed that he has the privilege to explore whatever he likes in his life.
He also believes that the philosophy that says one should not be materialistic is wrong. “If material things are not important, why would one build a house? And after building a house why do they want to decorate their house?” he questions.
Alongside, money and materialistic things, his paintings also explore love, romance, life and childhood experiences. Motifs like Pokemon, ramen noodles, animals, dancers, etc have been used in his paintings. In most of his paintings, he has used numerous white lines in wavy form and these lines for Pradhan indicate the sound or the energy that exists in the surroundings all the time.
About using a pitta artist pen, he says, “I have enjoyed drawing and painting since my childhood and using a pitta artist pen helps me revisit that feeling of happiness and sense of freedom.”
So many things happening on the canvas with the use of vibrant colours gives a sense of excitement to the viewers. Though referencing artists like Pollock, MF Husain, Picasso and more, his pen strokes give a sense of newness through his expression and thoughts about his life experiences.
In his paintings, these bright colours and motifs are in harmony and are visual treats that can surely cheer up the mood of any visitor. Moreover, you can also get free stickers from the artist.
If you too are in a gloomy mood and want to uplift a little, visit the exhibition that continues till February 6.
