Partha Dasgupta [1966 Kolkata] Initiated to art in the favourable homely space that encouraged artistic activities, Patha got his first breakthrough when he was spotted by the established artist Shaila Chakraborty during an open-air drawing competition where he bagged the first prize. Later he moved to Kolkata, bagged various national and private scholarships and diplomas and rejected the lucrative offer of working in the Indian Air Force to dedicate himself to the development of the ceramic section in the National Art College in Park Street under the guidance and influence of his two teachers in the Art College- Ganesh Haluikar and Bandhan Das. Akhilchandra Das [1968 - Kolkata] The rise of Akhil has parallels with Partha’s career. Like Patha, Akhil rose from a very common household to bag various national and private fellowships and scholarships like Lalitkala Research Grant, National Scholarship, Junior Fellowship, Harmony Award etc as he progressed from the Art College in Kolkata to the University of Baroda. The expanse of the intellectual and artistic universe opened in newer personal domains as Akhil started to make his mark in the work of sculpture. Bronze was the initial medium, later wood was added to it. Akhil stresses on the entertainment value of art and hence the ornamentation in his works. His works like the one where various geometrical forms are focused towards one fixed point, the cone and the act of balancing or the journey of men with the bronze men carrying astrological signs curved on a wooden panel reflect careful thinking about the contemporary cultural space which is informed and influenced by the socio-political context. Akhil’s art also demonstrates a powerful and decisive dramatization. Kushalkanti Chottopadhay [1960- Chandannagar] Like Partha and Akhil, Kushal is also an outstanding student of art. Being born in a family of freedom-fighters Kushal chose the unusual career of painter. Influenced equally by the Occidental and Oriental artists like Rembrandt, Van Geauga as well as Nandalal, Abnindranath and the daring courage of Tagore, Kushal passed out of the Art College in Kolkata as the topper. Then he formed a mobile painters’ group who traveled across the country to produce artistic as well as commercially viable paintings and drawings. Kushal himself experimented in various mediums like the mixed medium as well as pencil drawing and portrait. Painting according to him is a parallel version of life itself where the organ of eye is used to capture the feelings and sensations of all the other sensory organs. Hence with experience the perception of painting changes as does life till one reaches the space where the parallel flows of life and painting merge.
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