This popular art gallery in Kolkata opens doors to two artists from different eras

When you enter South Kolkata’s popular gallery, Art Exposure, the two levels display artists divided by time, medium, and influences; yet united by vision. While Rahul Buski’s paintings reflect his grounded upbringing and the idea of resistance, Suren De’s sculptures, rooted in Bengal aesthetics yet altered by Western influences, get a late spotlight. Indulge dropped in at the inauguration of the twin shows, and here’s why it should be on your visit list this season.

Rooted in Resistance

South Indian artist Rahul Buski’s large canvases are a deep reciprocation of protests, resistance, memory, relationships and protection. His creative ethos stems from his upbringing and hardships among the Paniya Adivasi lineage in Wayanad, Kerala. One of the most striking features and recurring themes in his work at the ongoing exhibition, Flowing Like a River Undammed, is the human-nature relationship. However, what makes Buski’s works different from other artistes depicting the same theme is the dignity that he tries to give to human and other-than-human forms through his work. His paintings have vivid lines, densely worked surfaces, and a memory or message behind every art piece.

According to him, ‘land isn't just a background setting. It’s a living ancestor that holds our history and who we are. The heavy, layered textures show how complex indigenous life really is—where stories, scars, deep knowledge of nature, displacement, and survival all exist together. I purposely avoid making things look smooth or simplified. Indigenous life shouldn't be flattened into romantic stereotypes or the kind of clean images colonial mindsets prefer. These rough, broken surfaces force people to look at our reality on our own terms.’

Glancing at the artworks, one could notice that the facial imagery was often undefined or absent. In Urhumalu, it is covered by the hair of a young girl, while in Thalum it is replaced by plants growing from the neck; in several works from his Chodi series or his untitled oil and acrylic works, one can see the same. When asked, Rahul responds, “The artworks are a direct response to trauma and violence against the community. Many of the figures represent political sharks, and thus they have no faces.” In fact, the painting Ottamaram Kaada stems from a childhood memory of his grandmother shielding him from structured violence.

Rahul’s works are not just a visual documentation of violence, resistance, and trauma but a means to reclaim what rightfully belongs to the people. The exhibition moves beyond aesthetics and questions the viewers to look around them, for parallels would surely be found in today’s society – urban or rural.

A long-overdue recognition

Closer to home is Bengal’s own Surendranath (Suren) De. He was one of the most gifted sculptors of post-Independence India, yet he never received the recognition his work deserved. Decades after his death, the gallery brings together 15 of his surviving sculptures for the exhibition, Figures of Resilience.  

Born in Tripura, he came to Santiniketan's Kala Bhavana in the mid-1950s and studied under Ramkinkar Baij, the pioneer of post-modern Indian sculpture. The school's experimental spirit, with its emphasis on nature study and exposure to both Indian and Western traditions, shaped his approach. He taught in Nigeria for nearly two decades before returning to Kala Bhavana as faculty in 1980, taking up the space his teacher, Baij, had left.

The exhibits show a body of work that seems stylistically restless but may be read as a search for a modern Indian identity in sculpture.  Suren worked in terracotta, concrete, cement, metal and wood. His figures are built from angular, intersecting planes, yet an expressionist undercurrent keeps them from feeling academic, toying with a delicate balance between geometric rigour and an unmistakable emotional presence.

A child's head is rendered in bronze with tender intimacy, while a concrete group resembling a family on the move becomes a faceless, unified mass. His animals and birds evoke living creatures while embracing the language of abstraction. Of the two wooden standing women from the 1950s, one is detailed and shallow, recalling Bharhut reliefs, and the other is stripped of features, its oval face echoing Brancusi. Some terracotta and concrete pieces approach pure abstraction.

Somak Mitra, Director, Art Exposure, said, "After decades of being seen only in fragments, bringing Suren De's sculptures together allows us to understand the remarkable breadth of his practice. He was an artist who constantly experimented—with terracotta, concrete, cement, metal and wood, and with the possibilities of figuration, abstraction and geometry. His practice was cut short by his death in 1982, when he was only fifty-two, leaving behind a body of work that feels both deeply resolved and full of unrealised possibilities. For us at Art Exposure, this exhibition is an opportunity to bring that spirit of inquiry back into the public conversation and to give Suren De the renewed attention his work deserves."

Both exhibitions are on till November 17, 2026, at Art Exposure Kolkata, 16/2 Lake Terrace, from Monday – Saturday (11 am – 8 pm)

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