Sanat Kar

A majority of Sanat Kar’s works are surrealistic and have a curious dream-like appearance, mostly nightmarish. Figures are distorted and barely recognisable, and leave an uncomfortable feeling behind them. The same treatment is given to objects. As a result, all his paintings hover on the edge of reality without ever actually reaching there, symbolising the mysteries of life to which there are no answers.

Born in 1935 at Santiniketan,( West Bengal) Kar acquired his diploma in painting from the Government College of Arts and Crafts in Kolkata in 1955. The artist maintains a low profile, and allows his work to speak for him. His paintings are an eloquent testimony to his talent and artistic powers. He uses the medium of tempera most often in his work and there are layers within layers that emerge on closer perusal. A favourite is the image of the sea: an angry grey green out of which arise men and women as if just born, still with the placental fluid obscuring their faces. A large number of the creatures are amphibious, showing the all-pervading influence of water on our lives and the fear that it can generate.

Birth and death, the beginning and the end of the cycle of life hold endless fascination for Kar, as does the grotesque and the macabre. Sometimes he moves the spotlight on to the visages that are images of decay and mask-like in their contours. Protruding eyes, bulbous, squashed noses, loose lips and a expression that signifies the human who is fast approaching the end and losing all interest and dignity in the bargain appears occasionally in his work.

The colors Kar utilises are in keeping with his sombre mood. Mauve, dark green, browns, magentas and greys do nothing to relieve the pervasive darkness. He plays cleverly with alternating levels of light and dark to highlight the atmosphere of gloom. The texture of the material he works with also adds to the aura and his detailed penmanship lends credence to the whole.

Sanat Kar lives and works in Kolkata.