Figurative Expressions

Exhibition of 2nd solo collage paintings

@ Yala Maya Kendra, Patan Dhoka
31 July – 2 August 2006

Best Wishes

Kiran Manandhar – Senior Artist, Painter, 21 July 2006
I’m impressed by his works. He’s beautifully chosen and used oil colors on cardboards. The paintings are simple and the colors soft and eye-soothing. The interesting part is that he’s used cardboard as his canvas. The collage is fantastic! I’ve liked his new experiment. The color composition is also very good. This time he’s come out with new works which is quite different from the paintings that he’d executed in his first exhibition.

He’s improved a lot regarding his choice of color and styles of working. If he continues working with the same spirit and dedication, then I’m sure he’s going to make it big and succeed in this art-field.

I wish him all the best.

Collage, my freedom of Expressions

Gaurav Shrestha, Artist
For the past 7 years, I have truly enjoyed working in this innovative collage medium, as it has been a tremendous source of inspiration, giving me the freedom to express myself. It has always been my desire to create unique & experimental art with new ideas through this collage medium.

I have been working in this media with different styles. However this time I am glad to present a new series of collage paintings (oil on cardboard) which I think are quite unique. I have given much importance to the texture which creates total unique & different effects.

These exhibited paintings are the result of my 3 month’s long creation based on the theme of “Figurative Expressions”.

In the future, I will continue to create different & new styles of paintings in this expressive medium.

Breathing Life into Cardboard

The Himalayan Times – 1 August 2006
Learning the craft and following the path set by others is easy. But the real creators are those who try to create something new and blaze a path for others to follow. This carving has been seen at a painting exhibition put up by Gaurav Shrestha at the Yala Maya Kendra, which was inaugurated on July 31 by Kamal Mani Dixit, Chairman of the Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya.

New is the artist and so his is style and technique. those of you who had attended his earlier solo exhibition at Buddha Gallery must be familiar with his unique style of painting in which he had used things that we consider waste, like for instance plastics, piece of a sack, or calendar. And for those of you who are not familiar with his innovations, ‘Figurative Expressions’ is here for you. Using cardboard as canvas, shrestha has introduced his own style of experimentation using the collage medium (oil in cardboard) in the 18 paintings of this cardboard series, which were produced in a period of three months.

Using the bright and contrasting colours like red, white, yellow, blue and green, Shrestha has delved into a variety of themes and concepts that range from expressing heavenly powers like family bond, music and party. ‘Blessing’ exposes the relation between the devotee and god. In ‘The Beatles’, Shrestha has beautifully depicted all the four band members of the legendary band. Equally interesting is his painting titled ‘Patience’ in he Shrestha hints at the agitation past in which some human figures are to be seen patiently waiting behind the bars for the time of freedom of expression. A patch of a cardboard has been used to denote the jail in the paintings.

The pieces of cardboard have not only give texture to his paintings but have also are used to create figures in some of his paintings.
(The exhibition is on at Yala Maya Kendra till August 2)

Avant-garde expressions of Gaurav

The Kathmandu Post – 2 August 2006
Collage painting is an experimental art where variations are created from the mosaic of the used materials, thus resulting in difference in optical effects.

The same type of art is done by Gaurav Shrestha wherein he has oil painting on cardboards instead of canvas. This in itself is unique in the field of fine arts.

In these paintings, figurative expressions are given much priority. Most of the paintings are relevant with our daily realities and its various aspects.

Gaurav’s use of cardboard has been done differently in every painting, according to the topic and subject at hand. This has made his exhibition quite a unique experience.

The paintings are being exhibited at Yala Maya Kendra of Patan Dhoka and the show will continue upto August 2 (today).

Figurative Expressions

Nepal Travel Trade Reporter (31 July – 6 August 2006)
Exhibition of solo collage paintings titled – “Figurative Expressions” (first ever paintings on cardboard) by Gaurav Shrestha is going to be organized at Yala Maya Kendra, Patan Dhoka from July 31 to August 2, 2006.

This is the second solo collage painting’s exhibition by the artist. Since 1994, he has been actively involved in various painting competitions, exhibitions and workshops.

Shrestha initially started art with pencil sketch and watercolor but later moved on to various kinds of mixed media. In his first solo exhibition, his style of collage was created by patching together materials such as magazine clippings, white sacks, calendars, etc along with color finishing.

New experiments have been done in this second solo collage exhibition by the artist who created different styles of paintings by using only cardboard. The outcome of which is unique, incredible and impressive. “It has always been my desire to create unique and experimental art with new ideas through this collage medium” said Gaurav.

He added, “These exhibited paintings are the result of my 3 months long creation based on the theme of figurative art”. The price of the paintings range from NRs 5,000 to 30,000.

Figurative Expressions

in your FACE – August 2006
Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya presented a second solo exhibition of collage paintings entitled as “Figurative Expression” by Gaurav Shrestha who is not only an artist but also is a computer expert. The exhibition was inaugurated by Kamal Mani Dixit and was held at Yala Maya Kendra on the 31st of July.

Figurative Expressions

ECS – September 2006
Gaurav Shrestha, a young artist, exhibited his solo collage paintings as part of the “Figurative Expressions” art show at Yala Maya Kendra from 31st July to 2nd August. Using cardboard as a base, he has created the first-ever line of cardboard paintings, a soothing, soft collection that was genuinely appreciated by most of the guests. His color composition and style clearly reflects his dedication and artistic capabilities.

Gauravian Collage

SPACES – (Sep – Oct 2006)
Young and enthusiastic. Modest and soft spoken. These words best describe upcoming artist Gaurav Shrestha. According to mentor Kiran Manandhar, these words also are apt for his canvases. The gist of Manandhar’s words during Gaurav’s latest exhibition at the Yala Maya Kendra in Lalitpur on 31st July 2006 was that, artists’ works invariably reflect their personalities. Specially more so, one must think, in the case of those at the beginning of their journey.

Titled ‘Figurative Expressions’, Gaurav takes pride in declaring his works as the first ever paintings on cardboard. Granted that this too is a novel concept, something which all artists seem to be searching for nowadays, but the more important thing to look out for is, has the novel medium supported the artist’s creativity, or vice versa? Well, after viewing works like ‘Unveiling the Truth’, a piece that has a soothing blend of ochre, Prussian blue and maroon, and ‘Adapting Change’ with more of white, green and ochre used, and which is a good example of a fine but simple collage composition, one can say that the unusual surface seems to have worked, giving a certain individual character to Gaurav’s works. This, of course, due to the irregular texture of the surface which the artist says helped him to create distinctive and varied effects.

Thus, most of the works on display, including ‘The Live Performance’, ‘Patience’, ‘Hard Day’s Night’ (a strong composition with thick layering of paint), ‘Party’ and ‘The Beatles’ stand out as distinctively ‘Gauravian’.

गौरवको चित्रकला प्रदर्शनी

साप्ताहिक साउन १९, २०६३ (4 August 2006)
कलाकार गौरव श्रेष्ठको तीनदिने चित्रकला प्रदर्शनी सम्पन्न भएको छ ।

आइतबारदेखी मंगलबारसम्म पाटनको यलमाया केन्द्रमा चलेको उक्त प्रदर्शनीमा कलाकार श्रेष्ठले कार्डबोर्डलाई क्यान्भासका रुपमा प्रयोग गरेका थिए । तैलरंगमा बनाइएका प्रदर्शित कुल १८ वटा चित्र कलाकारले तीन महिनाको अवधिमा सिर्जना गरेका हुन् ।

कट एण्ड पेष्टको चित्रकला

Hasana Monthly Nepali Magazine – 2006
जनआन्दोलन भाग-२ को आन्दोलन चरमोत्कर्षमा पुग्दा कलाकार गौरव श्रेष्ठ पनि कलंकीको आन्दोलनमा थिए । आधा घण्टा नियालेर आन्दोलनलाई हेरे । र, घरमा आएर एउटा जनआन्दोलन शीर्षकमा चित्र बनाए, सात घण्टा लगाएर । सामान्य रूपमा हेर्दा भुलभुलैया खेलको चित्रजस्तो देखिने जनआन्दोलनको अमूर्त चित्रमा चित्रकार गौरवले पहेंलो रङमा प्रतिगामीलाई उभ्याएका छन् भने आन्दोलनमा आहत जनतालाई रातोले रंगाएका छन् । यस्तै गाढा नीलोले आन्दोलनप्रति संशकित जनतालाई देखाएका छन् भने सेतो रङमा शून्य ह्रदय बोकेर आन्दोलनमा सरिक नहुने जनतालाई प्रस्तुत गरेका छन् ।

काम नलाग्ने बस्तुहरू कागज, बोरा आदिजस्ता सामाग्रीका टुक्राहरूलाई संयोजन गर्दै कुची दौडाउने अनि त्यही चित्रमा दर्शकलाई घोत्लिन बाध्य बनाउने कलाकार गौरव आफ्नो चित्रकलाप्रति गौरवान्वित हुँदै भन्छन्, ‘कोलाज (कट एण्ड पेस्ट) चित्रकलाको सम्भावना नेपालमा पनि धेरै छ, जसको सुरुवात मैले गरेको छु ।’

सन् २००२ मा एउटा चित्रकला प्रदर्शनीमा म्यागेजिनका टुक्राहरू, चामलका बोराका टुक्राहरू तथा कागजका बाकसका टुक्राहरू टाँसेर अमूर्त रूप दिए र रङले सजाए । प्रदर्शनीमा राखिएका यस्ता चित्रहरूले दर्शकलाई एकछिन रोकिन बाध्य बनायो । यहीँबाट मिल्यो गौरवलाई अरू ‘कोलाज’ कलाकारिता गर्ने । यही प्रोत्साहनले उनले समूहगत रूपमा थुप्रै प्रदर्शनी गरीसकेका छन् भने दुईवटा एकल प्रदर्शनी गरेका छन्, ‘कोलाज पेन्टिङको’ । उनी यो कला अरूलाई पनि सिकाउन चाहन्छन् तर भन्छन्, ‘मसँग कसैलाई सिकाउने समय नै छैन ।’

सामाजिक व्यवहारका विभिन्न पक्ष समेटेको पाइन्छ, चित्रकार गौरवले अमूर्त रूपमा । प्रत्येक चित्रमा उनी सकारात्मकता खोज्छन् । अरू चित्रकारको भन्दा आफूलाई पृथक रूपमा प्रस्तुत गर्न चाहने चित्रकार गौरव आफ्ना अमूर्त चित्रमा दर्शकले उनकै भावना बुझ्न जरूरी नहुने र आफ्नै रूपले बुझ्न स्वतन्त्र हुने मान्छन् । यद्यपि उनले आफ्ना चित्रकलामा शीर्षक दिएर दर्शकलाई बुझ्न सजिलो भने बनाएका छन् ।

व्यक्तिगत प्रयासमा तथा कुनै औपचारिक शिक्षाबिना चित्रकारिता गर्दै आएका गौरव आफू दत्तचित्त भएर लागेकै कारण सफलता प्राप्त गर्दै गएको बताँउछन् । विगत १२ वर्षदेखि चित्रकलामा संलग्न श्रेष्ठ भन्छन्, ‘हरेक कुरामा आशावादी हुनुपर्छ, सकारात्मक विचार राखनुपर्छ ।