A spectacular series of installations has taken over a decrepit mansion at Queens Park in Kolkata, transforming the spaces within (and a few without) into haunting and atmospheric arenas of memory and madness.
This is the on-site exhibition Firelight by Kolkata-based artist and sculptor Narayan Chandra Sinha; without a doubt, one of this season’s finest. The artist uses both personal and collective experiences to great effect in his genre-defying sculptures made of found objects.
The sculptural installations are not just large in a physical sense, they also create a sort of living presence in the spaces of the old house that acts as a platform for the artist’s expression as well as his muse. Sinha uses lighting to great effect as well—there’s a reason the exhibition hours are post sunset. “We negate the importance of nature, our source, and the organic ways through which each and every being is connected. Firelight explores these raw and intense emotions. The works have a disturbing quality, something uncomfortable-making, like all good art,” says art curator Ina Puri who has helped Sinha put the show together.
At one point a student of science, Sinha has held over 20 solo shows of his works since 2000, culminating in his most well known series ‘Debi’ in 2011, which was appreciated for Sinha’s reinterpretation of spirituality and ritualism through the medium of metals.
Firelight can be viewed at 12 Queens Park, next to Birla Mandir, Kolkata between 5pm and 9pm till 16 June. A few images from the show:
