Art is borne out of the desire to express. And an expression many times is a recreation of events in our consciousness. Numerous art pieces that have captured our attention from time to time are based on the recollection of an instance of an event. Likewise, once an art piece is ready it crafts a myriad of memories to fall back on.
It would perhaps not be right to include the Eiffel Tower in the league of arts but in the 1920s it became a symbol of modernity and the avant-garde. Besides, the 7,000 tons of metal that were utilized to create the tower is still considered to be a striking piece of structural art. The tower was the main symbol of the Exposition Universelle (1889) and it served as the entrance arch to the fair.
Today for people who are not French it is more of a tourist attraction. It serves as an encyclopedia of memories. People flock every year to click group photographs and selfies. It has become a convenient way to announce or broadcast that “I am in France”. Couples come down and click photographs in a deep embrace, often they are busy trying out the “French Kiss”. Every one of them out here wants their love lives to flourish and become immortal as the towering structure above, a structure that has witnessed tumultuous and happy moments in history. And tumultuous and happy I believe are keywords of successful relationships.
2,162 km away from France Norwegian painter and printmaker Edvard Munch created ‘The Scream’.The Scream happens to be his rendition of existence when he was out for a walk with two friends. Munch paused momentarily and looked over a fence. The sun was setting on the horizon and the clouds appeared blood red. Faint noises from underneath the city followed. In the words of Edvard “My friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature” The Scream was sold at an auction for $119,922,500 at Sotheby’s in New York, in the year 2012. Edvard’s memory of one evening thus led to the creation of one of the most expensive paintings in the history of art. The Scream was completed in 1893.
On that note I would like to invite you all to Fabricated Tales: The Series an exposition of my artworks at the Jamaat Art Gallery. The inauguration of this exposition will be held on 16th January 2019 at 7:00 pm and the event will continue till 1st March 2019. The exhibit focuses on instances and memories I grew up within my hometown. Back here in the city of dreams, I have tried to recreate those bygone moments using the medium I have come to repose my faith in.