Manandhar pays reverence to deities in his works

Kathmandu, July 30: Kiran Manandhar is a maestro of Nepali fine arts. He has been galvanising Nepali art for more than six decades.Even at his 70s, his exuberance towards art and its development is unparalleled. His art skills are not limited to Nepal. Many of his paintings are collected by national and international collectors and kept in the international museums.

He has made a special contribution to the development of fine arts. Nepal Fine Arts Academy was established with his and others efforts. He is the founding chancellor of the academy.

He has exhibited his artworks over 150 times in home and aboard. Now  his art exhibition Samarpan has been going on at Siddhartha Art Gallery, Babermahal since July 24. He has put 42 paintings on the display.  Of them, 38 are acrylic on canvas and four charcoals on Nepali paper.

He is famous for his abstract paintings. He has painted the canvases of various gods including lords Krishna, Ganesh, Shiva, Goddesses Pavrati, Kali  and Kumari. He said that all the paintings he prepared for the exhibition are his dedication, devotion and homage to God and Nepal.

He enjoys using vibrant colour palettes and intriguing strokes to express his emotions in his paintings and in this exhibition, he has used bright colours to give rich finish to his works.

Pictures of Gods in his painting mean that the artists should work like the power of those gods and goddesses rather than supporting any religion or sect, said Manandhar. He opinioned that artists show their diligence for the upliftment of art or for the benefit of art.

In the paintings currently put on display at Siddhartha Art Gallery, he has focused more on the figures of gods and goddesses. He has painted a picture of Lord Bhairav, who he believed to be a god of vigor and wrath. He tried to capture the aesthetic beauty of anger through his brushes.

Another wrathful painting is of Lakhe. Lakhe is considered to be one of the protector deities of the Kathmandu Valley, which is worshipped by the people of Kathmandu. Manandher has depicted Lord Vishnu’s painting along with ornaments and instruments that he carries in one of his paintings. The Barah incarnation of Vishnu is also demonstrated in his painting.

Another painting is of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati in which they are seen embracing each other. Lord Shiva is seen with a trident in his hand and a snake around his neck while Goddess Parvati is in a white saree, portraying unconditional, heavenly love.

 Likewise, he has made canvases of Lord Ganesh using yellow colour with slight touch of red, white and blue colours. As Ganesh is the deity of wisdom and through Ganesh’s paintings, Manandhar is trying to convey the message that artistes should be wise. 

He has used many other materials like jute, raw cardboards, Nepali paper to explore his ideas. In this exhibition, he has used confident knife patches of colour with spontaneous flow of the colour spectrum on the canvas.

 Yellow and red are the colours which dominate most of his work.

He compares himself with a bird. Just as a bird never eats just one fruit and wanders various trees to eat different foods, so like a bird, he likes to find and create something new every time in his paintings. The exhibition will continue till  August 24.