By Bigyan Mihir Patnayak

 

Art for Swaroop Biswas is ‘almost a parallel life’. This is not a punch line but a paraphrase of Swaroop’s journey so far in the field of Art. He states this view about his interpretation of Art in a recent interview given to Kala Dirgha, an international journal on visual art. Kala Dirgha on its tenth anniversary year of their publication released two volumes dedicated to renowned visual artists who were connected with the College of Arts, Lucknow. Swaroop Biswas was selected by this renowned Journal for this honour.

 

Swaroop who did his graduation in Fine Arts from GCA, Lucknow has come a long way in this journey in his pursuit of expressing his deep emotions in the Art form. A journey which he calls ‘rollercoaster’. Swaroop has been inspired by three great artists which he likes to highlight as artists who have had distinct impression on him – Ganesh Pyne, Picasso and Badrinath Arya. But the greatest of his inspirations have been the people and the world around him. He says, “In my works I have explored different facets and sometimes completely different human beings caught in the same body”. He is distinctly intrigued by the myriad of possibilities that are exhibited by the complexities of the human psyche. In his words, ‘this unforgiving world creates immense pressures on the individual mind which in a way manifests in distorting the very basis of the character of the personality and the individual starts creating an illusion around him.’ He has been able to explore infinite number of possibilities of the way this illusion surfaces in the visual presence. This visual presence we know as ‘Mask’ which we know both in the literal form and as well as a metaphor. Swaroop’s idiom is manifested through the theme of Masks which is one of his major themes in the recent times. The other style of his works were aptly titled very recently in his exhibition in Chennai – Perspective.

 

Swaroop is a keen observer of the life as it happens, transforms and manifests around him and all of us in our day today existence. Even though he himself denies the beauty of his creations, his pieces immediately draw the attention of the viewer. His use of vivid colours that are not challenging to our perceptions is very clever. It may be unintentional but is so obvious that that once you are placed before his painting you are then transformed into a discourse with the painting. The simplicity of the imagery used by Swaroop is also another charming aspect about his art. Step by step you enter into his world and the world of his creation and his painting enters into your mind and you start uncovering the wonderful different facets laid out by him in his art. This process becomes so beautifully indulgent that the impressions never leave your senses even after you have left the scene. He registers his thoughts in your mind. And he makes it a point that they do, such is the lasting impression about his art.

 

Swaroop has participated in 24 shows of his paintings all over the country and abroad. And a third of these are solo exhibitions. A widely viewed and appreciated artist, Swaroop has left indelible marks of his unique works wherever he has gone. The beauty about this man is that he is not a closet artist who is cocooned within the four walls of his studio. He is a remarkably effervescent man. Having indulged in works of photography, design and theatre, he comes across to you as a very worldly wise man with no baggage at all of being such a prolific artist.

 

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An artist with wide range of creative skills combined with good acquired skills in people and process management is the best way to define Swaroop. With 15+ years of experience in User Experience, Communication Design through elearning, Publishing for Print & Web, National magazines, Advertising, web design and multimedia industries, he has a wide range of exposure towards different skills, requirements, techniques, mediums and cultures. Swaroop loves to work with and lead big teams. He is a good motivator and his theater skills help him greatly to understand psychological issues and provide solutions.

 

Skills & Specialties: User Experience Solutions, Usability & Accessibility Analysis, IA Design, People management, Visualization, Communication design (web, print, multimedia), Skill & Process Training, Lectures (Art history, Color psychology, Design process).