Art is about the visual experiences that the artist goes through every moment in his life. These experiences carry along specific memories and the sub- conscious mind registers images of those moments.
The art works are thus closer to the heart of any artist. They are virtually the visual treat because they are experienced and expressed visually from life and from surroundings as well as nature directly. This stands true in the paintings and drawings of Shri Awadhesh Misra who has enlivened with space where he was born, in the space where he was brought up or the space where he was educated.
Now these spaces are his personal spaces from where emerges exposure of life from the simple rural life to the modern urban life, providing a potpourri of confused, complicated or a simple life material.
He is equally aware of the circumstances that create social diverse imagery. There is, therefore, a strong visual language that he creates for himself and for others to experience. It is more like making friendship through his art evolving painted dialogues.
He delineates through the symbols he discovered from his memory store without forgetting the Vizooka (Scare Crow) from the fields - his childhood companion in his village which stands right in the middle of the field as a protector- an abstract existence not only for the fields or the farmers or the birds but also for the passers by. One may identify such an imagery with the self in abstention, with a face, arms and the shirt hanging on the cross of a bamboo stick.
The Vizooka is a timeless symbol in existence for centuries from one generation to the next. As a matter of fact, it is the symbol of continuation and qualifies its existence even into the fourth dimension of time. Vizooka is his main actor in his paintings representing people from all walks of life. It is the mouthpiece of Awadhesh, presenting acts on his behalf – whether as a politician or a policeman, a dancer or a musician.
The Vizooka even makes its appearance on the laptop to upgrade its presence in the modern world and even creates a whirlwind dance item – an outcome of memories of folk dances performed in the village on various occasions. We have a very colourful folk tradition which has always inspired the painters and the musicians of this country from the times immemorial and with the rural background of Awadhesh; the inclination comes as a natural outcome. Awadhesh however does not name his paintings but prefers to call them compositions – a general tag to all his works. He prefers the viewer to enjoy the pure visual experience of colour , space and form first and interpret and understand if need be the content part. I think his vizooka is clever enough to entertain the viewer like the joker of a circus who carries strong emotional experiences behind his colourful masks. Behind Vizooka’s arrival there were his earlier intricate abstracts of several years with circles, squires or triangles creating movement into spaces, at times constructing a structure of dreams.
The capacity to create a new personal world is visible in his paintings and one really has to live in it to enjoy. . Awadhesh has his likings and disliking put together in terms of icons, symbols or the vizooka and impasto, or like kites, women or Benaras with spiritual flavour. It is like making a statement at the opening of the play by the sutradhar, who wishes to speak about the happenings on the stage. The stage is full of glittering lights of different colours falling on the space and on the characters.
His paintings, therefore, have the brilliance of colours but at the same time adequate enough to bring out the essentials of the theatrical nuances in his paintings. He does not indulge into the use of many colours in his compositions rather prefers to make a simplified portrayal with a couple of colours of the same family, like red & orange with brown or light green with dark green or blue with mauve but then his interest is more in the visual language that he wishes to convey.
As stated above the light also plays an important part in his paintings whether in terms of creating illusion of space or to highlight the main incumbent of his work. The structure of his compositions, too, is in the vertical and horizontal metrical. That makes the subject thus portrayed more simplified for viewer to interact with convenience. One has to also see the dedication behind his paintings and for that his black and white effortless drawings are to be viewed seriously.
The contents of his drawings have the illusive character of space of another world bound with a certain creative gravity. We often enjoy such forms either in the deep sky or images in the moving water without looking for their meaning. His drawings have similar unknown pleasure in them except that these are drawn with the clarity of experience of years at the back of him and are not just accidental images.
As a matter of fact the drawings form the very basis of all workouts of an artist and confirm his command on his creative outcome. Coming from a small village of Faizabad to Benaras and then to Lucknow- the two big cities, Awadhesh has built his own vocabulary of ideas and thoughts that he often, when instigated, does speak in his works . But then those are sentimental attachments as if one is talking about his brilliant siblings, who were raised and brought up with love and care.
One has to understand these personal and worldly experiences that an artist goes through and finally arrives at. The art of Awadhesh Misra is, therefore, has its own beauty, which has emerged because it belongs to the creator and the viewer and giving them immense pleasure at all times.
Education
2007 Ph.D. – MJP Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, UP, India 1998 Art Appreciation Course- State Museum, Lucknow 1997 M.F.A.Banaras Hindu University., Varanasi
1995B.F.A. Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi [Gold Medalist]
1991 Art Masters Training - Lucknow University, Lucknow [First Class First]
Exhibitions
2011Exhibition of recent Painting’s series Vizooka at Hirji, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 2011 Exhibition of recent Painting’s series Vizooka organized by Gallery Art2Day, Pune, Maharashtra
2011 Exhibition of recent Painting’s series Vizooka organized by Thane Kala Bhawan Art Gallery, Thane, Maharashtra
2011Exhibition of recent Painting’s series Vizooka organized by ICCR, N Delhi at Azad Bhawan Art Gallery, IP Estate, N Delhi
2009 Exhibition of recent Drawings, organized by “Gallery Hasta” at Gallery Hasta, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad
2009 Exhibition of Recent Paintings, organized by Vyom Centre for Contemporary Art at Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur
2009 Exhibition of Recent Drawings organized by “Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal” at Roopankar Gallery, Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal
2009 Exhibition of Recent Drawings, organized by “Jago Bharat” at State Lalit Kala Akademi, UP, Lal Baradari Bhawan, Lucknow
2008 Exhibition of Recent Paintings, at State Lalit Kala Akademi UP, Lal Baradari Bhawan, Lucknow.
2005 Exhibition of Drawings & Paintings, organized by “Kala Sarthi” Gomti Nagar, Lucknow.
2004 Exhibition of Recent Drawings, organized by Bhartiyam Art Gallary, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow
2003 Exhibition of recent Drawings organized by Vimla Devi Foundation, Raj Sadan, Ayodhaya at Tulsi Smarak, Ayodhya, GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012 ‘Togather’ a National Level Exhibition at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Kendra, Bhubaneswar, Orissa
2011 ‘Sangam’ a National Level Exhibition at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Kendra, Bhubaneswar, Orissa
2011 ‘India Amalgamated’ a National Level Exhibition at Thane Kala Bhavan, Thane, Maharashtra
2010 ‘Just Before 100’ an exhibition of Alumni of College of Arts and Crafts, Lucknow at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Kendra, Aliganj, Lucknow
2009 ‘Group Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings’ at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Kendra, Aliganj, Lucknow 2009‘Exhibition of Drawings’ organized by Dhoomimal Gallery, Connaught Place, New Delhi
2008 ‘Contemporary Art In Benaras’ Exhibition organized by Dhoomimal Art Center, Connaught Place, New Delhi 2008 ‘Translocal…’ Exhibition organized by CATHARSIS Art Gallery, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, Gujrat 2008‘Translocal…’ Exhibition organized by CATHARSIS Art Gallery at Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University Baroda, Gujrat
2007 Organized by Kala Dirgha, Journal of Visual Arts at Chitramayee State Art Gallery, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
2007Organized by Bougain Villaea Contemporary art gallery, Udaipur, Rajasthan
2007 State Lalit Kala Akademi, UP, Lucknow [Time & Space Group, Lucknow]
2007Birla Academy of Arts & Culture, Kolkata [Time & Space Group, Lucknow]
2006College of Arts and Crafts, Patna organized by Virgo Art Gallery,Lucknow
2005 Virgo Art Gallery, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow 2004 Chitra Kala Parishad, Banglore
2004Moment, Gallary of Contemporary Art, I.T. Lucknow 2003Group Show of Contemporary Artists of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan at Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur 2002Regional Exhibition at Arts College, Lucknow
2002 Nehru Center, LONDON & Nirankari Bhawan, Birmingham, U.K.
2002Exhibition of Indian Artist, organised by Oak House Museum, Oak House Lane, Birminghum, England, U.K. 2002 Exhibition of Kala Utsav Multi Dimension Aritist Camp at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Kendra, Lucknow
2002Group Show of Contemporary Artists of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh at Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad, Bhopal
2001Bhartiyam Art Gallery, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow 2000Art Gallery, DUBAI
2000Art Gallery, MUSCAT
2000 Bhartiyam Art Gallery, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow
2000 Art Gallery, Bareilly
1999 Working Artist of Varanasi at Lalit Kala Akademi, Lucknow
1999Kargil Shahid Pariwar Shahayata Exhibition at L.K.A.,Lucknow
1999Exhibition of Artist Camp, State L.K.A., Lucknow 1998 Inter University Art Exhibition, Lucknow University, Lucknow
1998 Srishti Art Gallery, Lucknow
1997 Young Artist Exhibition B.H.U., Varanasi
1996 Vandana Art Gallery
1996 U.P. State Lalit Kala Akademi
1992-97 Banaras Hindu University
1990-91 Lucknow Arts College AWARDS/HONOURS
2010- 12th All India Exhibition organised by State Lalit Kala Akademi, U.P., Lucknow
2003- All India Exhibition Award- Srajan Lalit Kala Sansthan, Samstipur, Bihar
1998- State Level Exhibition Award on the eve of Golden Jubilee Celebration of Independence, organised by State Lalit Kala Akademi, U.P.
1995- Gold Medal-Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 1992-97- Merit Award- Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
1990-91-Merit Award-Lucknow University, Lucknow PARTICIPATIONS
2011- Exhibition at State Lalit Kala Akademi, Uttar Pradesh Lal Baradari Bhawan, Lucknow on the occasion of Centenary celebration of Lucknow Arts College, Lucknow University Lucknow
2011- ‘1st International Drawings & Graphic Prints Exhibition
2011’ Government College of Art, Chandigarh and Government Museum & Art Gallery, Chandigarh
2010- 12th All India Exhibition, State Lalit Kala Akademi,Uttar Pradesh Lal Baradari Bhawan, Lucknow 2006- College of Arts and Crafts, Patna; orgnised by Virgo Art Gallery,Lucknow
2005- Virgo art Gallery ,Gomti Nagar Lucknow
2003-04 &1994 - State Lalit Kala Akademi, Lucknow
1998- South Central Zone Culture Centre, Nagpur
1997- All India Exhibition, Amritsar
1996-Rashtriya Kala Mela, Calcutta
2009- Annual State Exhibition, State Lalit Kala Akademi, Uttar Pradesh Lal Baradari Bhawan, Lucknow
2000- Millennium Art Exhibition Jointly organised by State Lalit Kala Akademi, U.P. & All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society, New Delhi at Lucknow
2000-State Exhibition of selected exhibits of Regional Exhibition at State Lalit Kala Akademi, Lucknow
1998- Golden Jubilee Exhibition, L.K.A., Lucknow
1997- State Exhibition,Working Artist of Varanasi
1994, 95-98, 99-2000- U.P. State Lalit Kala Akademi, Lucknow
1993-94- Working Artist of Varanasi Artist Camp:
2012- National Level Art Camp, Organised by BLACK PAGODA Art Gallery, Bhubaneswar, Odisha
2012- National Art Festival, Organised by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi at Hotel Polo Towes, Shillong, India 2011- Painter's Camp at College of Arts and Crafts Lucknow on the occasion of centenary celebration of Lucknow Arts College, Lucknow University Lucknow 2006- National Painter's Camp, Organised by North Zone Cultural Centre, Chandigarh at Sukhdewanand Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, Uttaranchal, India
2006- National Artist Camp, Organised by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi & Shrimant Shankar Deo Kala Chhetra, Guahati, India
2002- Regional Artist Camp "Kala Utsav" by Rashtriya Lalit Kala Kendra, Lucknow, India
1999-Organised by U.P. State Lalit Kala Akademi at Dhanolti (Dehradoon) & almora Uttaranchal, India 1995-Organised by Vandana Art Gallery, Bareilly, India Mural :
2011-Part of Longest Mural of the World record made in Lucknow on the occasion of Centenary celebration of Lucknow Arts College, Lucknow University Lucknow
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