Human body carries hidden mystery and beauty: Dixit

Kathmandu, Nov. 17: Kapil Mani Dixit, one of the pioneers of nude art in Nepal, believes that human body is a beautiful natural landscape. 

Human body is a form of nature, celebrating human body means respecting nature, he said. Over 60 nude art works of Dixit are now on  display at the 'Nude Art’ exhibition at Windhorse Gallery, Jhamsikhel, Lalitpur.

"We are looking for nature outside, but we forget to look at our own body. Our body is a beautiful gift of nature. Look at your body before stepping out in search of nature, your body is a part of nature," said Dixit.  Artist Dixit portrays human emotion through myriads of body movements through paintings. 

 In most of his paintings, he used black and white colours, however, in few canvases, he also uses yellow colour with black and white combinations. He likes to use minimal colour in his paintings as he believes to find happiness in minimal colours. His father used to draw the nude paintings as a hobby, said Dixit. 

He grew up watching his father's paintings which inspired him.

"I have created nude paintings in a subtle way so as not to offend anyone." 

 Dixit believes that 'nude' and ‘nakedness’ are different things. He said that this type of art would help inform about the human body. “If you are openly aware of the human body, it will open the way for discussion.  Therefore, if people understand their body parts, it will help reduce the incidence of rape cases as well,” he said.

Dixit said that the concept of nude art was narrow when he organised a solo art exhibition on nude art for the first time in 2006. “At that time, people used to associate nude art with erotic art, but now time has changed, and the people have started seeing nude art as a different form of art,” he recalled. 

According to him, parents come with their children to see the art exhibition and the children are also openly asking questions about the nude art.

Dixit said he also wanted to break the stereotype of beauty through paintings. He said, "Everyone is equally beautiful and it is not fair to judge people because of preconceived notions of beauty." 

He said  that each human body is different although it is similar in many facts. He said many religious sculptures of Nepal are engraved with art reflecting sexuality and people easily digest such arts. “Nude art does not promote sexuality, but it helps celebrate human body the way it is,” he said.  

Human body itself caries a hidden mystery and it is hard to get through the naked eye, he said.  

"I have always tried to dig beyond the human body, so much so that the inner feeling of joy, sorrow, happiness, misères, life struggles and challenges inspire me more than mere outer form of human body," he added. Through the art exhibition, he tried to explore the symbolic representation of human body. 

Dixit studied fine arts from North Lake College, Texas, USA.

He has organised seven solo art exhibitions and more than 80 group art exhibition in Nepal, America and Australia.