Report by OD bureau; New Delhi: Odia artist Ranjan Mallik organising Painting Exhibition on 6th August at India Habitat Centre of New Delhi. His solo Painting Exhibition Title is"Ranjan Mallik, Social Ties".  This exhibition will be based on his painting of India Marriage and male and female relation.

Ranjan Mallik belongs to the new clan of young artists striving to make their mark in the big bad world of contemporary art. Art occupies the central spot in his quest and he has been putting in hard work ever since he wielded a brush in his teens. The most engaging aspect of his work is that it has been constantly evolving over the years. He has been exploring different themes and styles, experimenting with application of colour, trying out suitable materials and methods and in the process attempting to create a whole new overall impact. A healthy discontentment backed by a self belief has been pushing him on into new horizons.

Coming from Balasore, a small town in Odisha, Ranjan is modest, unassuming and easy to get along with. After graduating in fine arts from BK College of Arts and Crafts, Bhubaneswar in 2000, he went on to complete his MFA in Fine arts as well as M. Phil in History of Art from Dr. BR Ambedkar University, Agra. He is now pursuing his PhD in Fine arts at MGCGV, Chitrakoot.

A keen observer of the contemporary art scenario, he has worked hard at his sketches and canvases to give shape to his own concepts of form and colour. From an early involvement with realistic rendering, Ranjan gradually moved into abstraction, experimenting with laying of patches of interacting colours. However, subsequently the aspect of abstraction slowly moved away to the background while forms and shapes started taking the center stage in his subsequent works. While the background itself, of late, has flattened out into interesting hues, the early realism has come back into his line work in the form of surrealistic expression laced by a style of flat and bold application of progressive yet harmonized colours that make his paintings loom into compelling view.

In his own words, “Painting is the creative expression of my inner vision. The vision opens and guides my eyes towards the multitude of shapes, tones and colors around me and their ethereal relationship with the interplay of light, which creates a playful sensation within me. I paint because I wish to respond to this sensation and communicate the same to the outer world. In my paintings I get inclined towards figurative shapes and unusual colour tones rendered in surrealistic style using multiple mediums and brushstrokes celebrating life. Mostly I like to paint human figures juxtaposed against an abstract background for visual aesthetics. The aspects of tension and release in life around us interest me deeply and I pick my subjects from a socio- living relationship.”

Ranjan lives in Delhi and works at his own studio in Gautam Nagar. He has had his own share of debacles in life including an enduring spinal surgery. But always on the go, Ranjan is endowed with an undaunted courage and a silent determination, which lead him on.