Art is life. Art cannot be separated from life. There is an inextricable relationship between art
and life. All that we experience is transmitted onto an image, stirring the innermost emotions
that lay dormant inside us as humans. The relationship between the viewer and the image
projected is a very intimate and personal one especially in case of painting. The artist can or
should never expect the intent of his artistic rendition to match the viewer’s. Whatever be the
purpose or the muse of the finished image the viewer would still comprehend it in a completely
different light. The viewer with his personal experiences and specific tastes and interests may
look to spot something that he/she can connect to or relate to. The viewers come with their
personal socio-political reality completely different from that of the artists’ but they can still
establish a common point of contact in the depicted image. Art can transcend boundaries
of race, culture, religion, language, nationality and pave its way into the viewer’s recesses of
consciousness. This relationship is symbiotic and at the same time fraught with tension.
Image making culture assumes a different role in each period of history expressing the
banalities or the ideals specific to them. The stylistics and the dynamics entailed in visual arts has
gradually evolved, transformed and perpetually startled us with its rich varied manifestations
seen throughout history. The ancient Egyptian civilization preserved Mummies in order to
sustain life. They believed that mummifying a body after death was essentially a safe passage
to afterlife. Likewise each epoch reflected art that was essentially conceptual in nature with
concepts of life, death and the philosophical questions concerning man were being propagated.
Today in the post-modern world an aspiring artist has an abundance of knowledge and
ideologies at his disposal to merge and mix, to challenge conventions in art, to draw references
from the past and to carve out a completely personal language in articulating issues that plague
him. To bring to our readers, we have three such artists from different generations whose work
are as different as the social political realities that surround them. On one hand, you have an
artist born in a small village in Punjab whose tryst with the medium of visual arts started
at a very young age. Then he has travelled places, imbibed from diverse artistic traditions
and infused them in his practice. On the other hand you have an artist from Kolkata, Paresh
Maity who following an academic path mastered a rare quality of water-colours, achieved
recognition immediately after his graduation in Fine arts. Paresh Maity’s photographs of Venice
invoke nostalgia for the city with its rich embellishments and capture its beauty, stillness with
meticulous precision. They are at once monumental and spectacular. The young contemporary
artist Anindita’s work is heavily influenced by the miniature traditions of the Mughal period,
but interweaves her thoughts and ideas within interesting motifs and patterns. Being a witness
to the communal politics in Gujarat she juxtaposes her personal politics and draws the viewer’s
gaze into intricate patterns forcing them to look for frames within frames.

We hope that readers will enjoy this fascinating issue that gives account of two diverse
Indian artists and their contribution to the art world. The New Year has begun with a lot of
cultural vibrancy as many Art Fests await us that would be crucial in spreading Art awareness
and hopefully elevate Indian art onto a global platform.
Siddhartha Tagore