London based Alexia Goethe Gallery hosts Jagannath Panda’s new series.
His recent paintings as well as sculptures are being showcased in collaboration with New Delhi based Gallery Nature Morte. The artist’s works travel to the UK after his second solo with Nature Morte.
His visual imagery is deceptively simple. It comprises linear drawing along with a few rendered forms that seem like floating on the surface. Even though his drawings are mostly realistic, Jagannath Panda desists from providing direct references. His diverse material range includes tracing sheets, thread and silver foil to get close to the reality. Colors do not play a prominent role yet they highlight form.
He does not look to romanticize any of the issues he wants to highlight. His effort is to put them across objectively. An accompanying essay by art critic Bharati Chaturvedi notes: “The artist is as much a magical marker of a fast evolving urbanscape even as he participates in it. Jagannath Panda, the son of a humble temple priest in the state of Orissa, has since traveled across the globe, making New Delhi his home. These contrasting journeys have invariably served as the essential substrate for most of his works. It’s the matter that nourishes him.
“He explores the diversity of expressions and symbolisms made possible through curious animal images and forms. Many of our fundamental dichotomies such as Traditional/ Contemporary, Urban/Rural, Nature/Culture, and Figuration/Abstraction are also explored.”
His style of painting, which jells well with his artistic concerns, largely deals are with his surroundings. He is quite sensitive to the grave problems caused by rampant urbanization and petty politics.