Rebanta Goswami's Page

Hometown:

Kolkata ( formerly Calcutta/ Kalkutta)

Country:

India

About Me:

Born in Kolkata_ India
Art education at
Govt. College of Art and Craft (Calcutta) 1971 to 1976.
Teaching Applied Art & Graphic Design in the same college, at present.
Worked on traditional Indian textiles with Weavers’ Service Centres 1978 to 2000/ Govt of India.

Are You artist?

yes

If you're an artist, what kind of art do you make?

Conceptual, Drawing, Painting, Photography

Member type

Artist

How would you describe your style of art?

During the early years of the twentieth century, Clive Bell, the British aesthetician advanced the theory of significant form, meaning a qaulity in art that existed independently of any representation, symbolic content and of emotion. It was this concept upon which the entire structure of modernism in art was built. At home, Nirode Mazumdar too saw no difference between the shape of a pitcher and a living face. To him it was the formal content that was of utmost necessity in art.

Theories however never stay put; they never brood over eternity. John Onans, another British aesthetician, has recently spoken of a new approach of seeing art, which he has named as neuroaesthetics on the basis of the fact that each individual configures different neutral network according to his or her proclivities, abilities and inclinations. That is the reason why human mind shifts from images to images and never configures identical visual units as nature does. Human beings imagine and create myriad visual units, transform objects of physical reality into signifiers and symbolic portents which reflect a deep-seated trait of the human spirit as well as fathom the depth of the latent layers of mind.

Rebanta Goswami's apparently bizarre images build up enigmatic narratives steeped in memory and phantasmagoria. A pedlar walking like a somnambulist ignoring a barking dog, a human head resembling a samovar or a crater of a living volcano, a horned ram against a moon as a recurrent motif, nocturnal sights with weird-looking animals staring at the viewers, a poodle and a speeding car, a dark figure against a white one, both betraying anonymity - present a series of seamless narratives that fits into John Onans' concept of neuroaesthetics. It is the human mind that can only conjure up such visions that the physical reality can never show. In art it is the mind that operates and it is the brain that draws and paints; and Rebanta Goswami as a creative artist offers a unique vista than only visuals can unfold. His paintings are both baffling and beautiful, distinguishing but thought-provoking as they venture into the zone of neural plasticity.
He leaves enough room for the viewer to consider him as a mocker who mocks none but himself or envisions a time that itself is nightmarish. There are allusions to magic and alchemy; human and animal formseither interchange their roles or are combined to the point of utter absurdity; and, symbols abound. The narratives however take us to the primal depth of the collective-unconscious and it seems doubtful whether the readings of the narratives will ever be complete or not.

Valmiki was amazed at the utterances that he had made as he did not know who spoke through him. An artist paints in an ecstatic state of mind and later on wonders at his own creations when he puts down his brush. He can never re-do or re-enact that state of being again as he interfaces another situation when he stands before the next canvas. The neuroaesthetic state of mind is something which defies all verbal
explanations. Rebanta's art shows those rare moments when an artist enters into a dialogue with the self. He confirms that, art does not exist in void, and, forms are not independent of a thinking mind. As an artist, Rebanta Goswami is an individual and his canvas amply speak of his individuality.

Professor Sovon Som, D. Lit. (Artist, Art Critic and Art-historian)
Ex Dean of Faculty, The Faculty of Fine Arts, R.B.University, Kolkata
19 August 2008

Describe your most recent work:

It is a continuity of 'The Pedlar' in my album. It is under further development after coming back from a recent show. Very soon I shall upload it. I hope to continue with the same color palette and theme till I don't feel empty.

How do you decide on your subject matter?

I don't decide the subject matter most of the time. The subject matters hidden deep in the unknown layer of my mind dictate me to form the visual unconsciously. When I reach a reasonably tangible state of the visual, I take over to establish it and finish up.

Website:

http://www.galeriekarma.com/gallery/rebanta-goswami

Blog:

http://artofrebanto.blogspot.com/

Your Ning Network:

http://visualartistsforum.ning.com/profile/RebantaGoswami

Which language do You speak?

English, Bengali, Hindi, Oriya.

Please take a moment to tells us how you heard about Pieronymus Art Network?

From Madalena.