ROMANCING THE CITY

Bhowmik's paintings have a tranquil quality which is hard to miss in his portrayals of a misty morning or a rainy day in the city Arpan Bhowmik's paintings are poems on romance, realism, and serenity, but his loudest declaration is his romance with the city space, says Dr Satarupa Bhattacharya

- Dr Satarupa Bhattacharya

Realism and romance have had an interesting engagement for centuries now and given the propensity of the arts today, we are, yet again, at the throes of the ushering rage of revisits to realism that combines with romance. Arpan Bhowmik (b. 1977) is one such particular case in point who has always been in love with both areas since the time he has been five years of age. The gorgeous hints of shadows carved around trees arranged side by side till they reach an arch of old architecture standing behind a deliciously yellow taxi has become a Bhowmik special that no one can miss in the busiest of walls nailed with different artworks from different artists. This speciality is so particular that one can spot it immediately and keep it in memory easily. One may see this as a remarkable feat to be so easily memorised, or as an act combining the popularist interception with the realist genre: in either case, Bhowmik remains poignant as a language interspersed with several possible meanings.

Bhowmik says that he began his artistic career sincerely after he joined the Government College of Arts under Calcutta University for a BA degree. It took him six months to prepare for the entrance exam when he was pursuing a programme at the Indian Art College under Rabindra Bharati at Dumdum. Even though he cracked the exam, he still got a seat in the applied arts department and not in the fine arts department: something he remembers fondly as he remembers the toughness of clearing the entrance exam. It became an important moment for him and it helped him realise his art career and practice.