Canvases of Hope: An Exhibition of Paintings by Late NiranjanKouli at Triveni Kala Sangam from 24th December

New Delhi: An exhibition of paintings by Assamese bureaucrat andpainter late NiranjanKouli, will be held at Triveni Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, from 24th December,2023 to 2nd January,2024. The exhibition will be inaugurated by Rita Ganguly, eminent performing artist, in the presence of Adil Hussain, internationally acclaimed actor on Sunday, 24th December, 2023 at 3pm. The exhibition will be open for public viewing up to 2nd January. The daily timings will be from 11am to 7pm (including Sundays).Dearly loved and admired by his colleagues and fellow artists, NiranjanKouli was as passionate about his art as he was about his work as an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer.

He had planned an art exhibition at the Triveni Kala Sangam but tragically passed away in 2021 during the pandemic. Two years later, this is a tribute to him and his artistic oeuvre at the gallery with the efforts of his family. He practiced his art at the Triveni Kala Sangam under the guidance of senior artists RameshwarBroota andSanjay Roy since 2017.Prior to that he had also studied art at Gauhati Artists’ Guild, Guwahati, Assam. He came to Delhi in the mid ‘80s to study for his Masters and passed out with a degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics. He briefly taught as a lecturer in Economics at the Diphu Government College, Assam before he joined the prestigious IRS in 1988. His last posting was at Faridabad, Haryana as the Principal Commissioner, Income Tax. In the course of his short artistic career, he participated in several national and international exhibitions including Bombay Art Society’s 129th All India Annual Art Exhibition, 2021.This art exhibition is aptly titled Canvases of Hope, as NiranjanKouli as an artist was an unfailingly optimistic man, and his work conveys a sense of longing for a beguiling, promising world. He brings to his art a sense of realism combined with metaphorical symbolism that engages the viewer with conversations about the country, the environment, urban dwellings, and various interpersonal relationships with those he held dear. In one of his paintings, he presents a self- portrait, where he is in deep discussion with his mother, while the background wall presents an aerial view of the city with memory drawing of maps, calling to view the fading memory of a lost childhood, all painted in cool blue tones. In another of his paintings, a man lies resigned and exhausted in a khatiya, with his rucksack thrown on the ground while he is approached by a trio of three, graceful peacocks. This painting is a testament to the hint of surrealism in his paintings, where the everyday and mundane blend with the sacred and symbolic. The man on the khatiya clearly belongs to the working class, but being visited by three regal peacocks brings a moment of relief to his tiresome day. Another recent painting is a tribute to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, bending over in his quintessential Gandhian way, where he grasps a handful of salt after his long march to Dandi. Behind him, in the background is the aerial map of India, with thousands of Gandhi’s supporters receding into the landscape. This is a profound painting, which provokes one to not only admire the man that Gandhi was, but also take a moment to appreciate the beautiful hues with which NiranjanKouli has contoured the painting.NiranjanKouli’s artwork is a combination of the real and the symbolic,of familial love, heartfelt concerns for the environment, gender equality, and love for one’s country. One would have liked to witness his oeuvre grow over the years; however, his loss is not only felt by his family but also many of the artists at Triveni Kala Sangam’s Art Department. His family remembers him fondly, celebrating his art and upholding the dream he cherished.