Painting it black in India

THE HINDU 
By Rinky Kumar

Black, an Artist’s Tribute to Contemporary Mithila Art by Santosh Kumar Das is ongoing till August 16 at Artisans’, Kala Ghoda

MITHILIA, India---“The rightful place for an artist, his real world, is a pot of black ink. I believe it contains all the magic, all the forms, everything that human beings can imagine and render. It hides inside itself the seeds of creation.” These words by contemporary Mithila artist Santosh Kumar Das not only portray his belief but also aptly depict the thought behind his book Black – An Artist’s Tribute as well as his first solo exhibition that is currently ongoing in the city. Das, who hails from Ranti village in the Madhubani district of Bihar, is a prolific artist who has been practicing the Mithila style of painting since several decades. His passion for the arts started since his childhood when he saw his mother, Savitri Devi, draw calendar-style images with black, which was made of the soot that she collected on a night lamp.  [More]