The landscape compositions by Binod Pradhan displayed at Siddhartha Art Gallery, Babermahal Revisted, are an illustration of how colours can be used to express the sounds of a mind in solitude. The exhibition titled “ Solitude of Color” was inaugurated by Barbara Hewitt, director, British Council Nepal on February 2. There are about 44 paintings on display that strongly express an anxious concern about the deteriorating state of traditional architecture and a culture which has been inextricably associated with the art of landscape painting.

Binod Pradhan was born and brought up in Kathmandu and finds his inspiration in the culture of the valley. His paintings incorporate the uncanny juxtaposition of gaudy and vibrant colours and the forms and dimensions traditionally accepted are sacrificed for colour, that are eloquent means of expression of strong emotions for the artist. Binod Pradhan, a dynamic member of the Kasthamandap Art Studio Group, has digressed from the style of religious conventional images by using sharp black lines that blurs the mere portrayal of places and shrines of religious worship. Moreover, the use of strangely bright colours has a different story to tell.

One such painting gives an impression of a temple in the background blurred by strokes of green. When questioned about the intent of blurring the equally impressive outlines of the magnificent edifice of a beautiful temple with green strokes the artist said that “the painting expresses a profound concern to preserve the aesthetic beauty of the traditional architecture which is risking oblivion.

Source: The Himalayan Times