Solo Show by Maumita Basu

Atanu Basu

Maumita Basu, a middle-aged person and a professional Lawyer, appears to have said good-bye to her profession and delve deep into the world of colour-canvas-brush and devoted herself very seriously and almost exclusively into her other world. She might have been a very successful professional, delivering judgements, yet she left the confines of that arena and stepped into the world of art. In her objective for showcasing her art, she addressed her viewers by declaring that, “colourful world of painting and creativity is the driving force of mine to live life form in joyful manner, different techniques, colours, style, medium, experimental creative works inspire me every day. Life and nature surprises me always. Little things, small incidents, human emotions fascinate me to choose my subject in my paintings. I just love to challenge myself to further my knowledge and enhance my creativity by doing experimental works.”

The second solo show of Maumita Basu has recently been held in Charubasan’s Chittaprasad Gallery. Forthelast 35 years or so, she is engagedin drawings and paintings. In between, she was into Boutique business, which she started in the year 2000 and continued till 2008. She was a disciple of many stalwarts in the area of painting, yet she always tried to evolve her own style and to create her own school of thought. In her solo exhibition, “Illusion of Freedom” one encounters drawings, paintings in tempera, mixed media, oil, pen and ink and other media. The exhibits in this exhibition was dominated by the live study of human figures, moments from daily lives to animal, flowers, scenery. All the exhibits were centered on realism and depicted her own world sublimed within her soul.

Her brush-strokes are excellent–particularly her sense of mixing of colors. Her prowess as a painter is revealed when one confronts her exhibits displaying a surreal moment, pain suffered by human beings, or for that matter, a definite feeling charged with emotion. Sometimes, she generated a boutique effect by using round shapes in her drawings. Many of her experimental works were dominated by the Indian traditional techniques and styles. Her compositions were remarkably poised, balanced delicately with the arrangements of pieces. She was always conscious, especially as regards the choice of subjects, space and most importantly, about the selection colours.

There is no doubt about the fact that in her entire range of exhibits in the exhibition, there is an implicit theme of freedom; but one is hard put to finding even a glimpse of “illusion”. Like poets, she may have a theme of her own about the kernel of what constitutes an illusion. Nevertheless, this particular exhibition of Maumita Basu would leave a deep impression and would be remembered for a long time.

The grooming that a serious artist ought to go through, as a practising artist Maumita went through all these crucial steps as meticulously as the craft demanded. As she was immersed in the apprenticeship, her love for art, passion, honesty and loyalty towards the values that art stood for, generated the dedication and ability to work in challenging situation confers a smooth navigation for an artist.

As a member of the Artists’ Forum, she had consistently taken part. Her work sprang from the daily experiences she gathered, the encounters with diverse objects around her; she reshaped them, giving them a psychological twist and then portrayed the objects in her own unique way. Visiting this exhibition comes as a welcome relief after quite some time.

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Vol 58, No. 10, Aug 31 - Sep 6, 2025