Dec 20, 1999

Chittrovanu Mazumdar, 43
Mixed Media Artist

APOCALYPTIC NOW

A few years ago, guests at the inauguration of a Chittrovanu Mazumdar exhibition at a plush Calcutta bungalow were surprised: dancer Astad Deboo was perched on a parapet performing to choral music. The real draw were modestly lined up at the entrance to the garden. But sidelined they were not. As one invitee remembers, the hypnotic dance, the soaring music and huge, imposing canvasses of "apocalyptic images" -- an indistinct face, an eye, a loosely-hung hand -- together created a magical evening.

The "wow" effect is exactly what this talented painter-turned-mixed media artist tries to create. Son of well-known artist Nirode Mazumdar, Chittrovanu at his last exhibition in Calcutta in September used huge, 20-ft tubes filled with polyfibre and 200 lightbulbs to create an unusual picture; a local theatre person got his works interpreted through a short one-act. Mazumdar is constantly trying to close the circle with performing arts and fine arts. "I'd rather take a chance to do something different and fail," he says "than take a fruit and do a still-life." You heard him.

-Labonita Ghosh

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