If you met Rabin Mondal for the first time, you would feel quite taken aback by his presence. At first glance, he was thin & tall, humble & gentle, an observer. A part of the crowd but yet alone, talkative & yet silent. Restless, but not careless. On entering you would find paintings in process,brushes scattered all around,dunes of used & unused tubes of oil & acrylic paint lying on the floor & the tables. Finished canvases in a row against the walls, books on modern & contemporary Western & Indian art which he acquired from different places, sketch books,pens,pencils etc etc all across in a room,where he used to spend most of his time. A room he called his studio. His studio was a place of meditation, a place where silence prevailed. In the orderly disorder, he found a climate suitable to work-a space where he created those haunting works of art.
Deeply influenced by the Bengal Famine, the violence-torn years of Calcutta in the 60’s & 70’s, suffering of the poor, & personal illness, Rabin Mondal’s works were anything but a pretty picture.The images are grotesque & used these to convey what he has seen living in Howrah through the 30’s & 40’s.His works show the darkness in society & touch upon themes of politics, corruption, power,suffering & tyranny.
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