3d Street Painting India – Chalkin’ Up Calcutta

I’m recently back from another fantastic visit to India (this makes it trip #5 & yes, I really, really love it there!) primarily visiting this time to connect with dear friends, collaborate on a public 3D street painting mural project & visit the amazing 2000 year old Ajanta and Ellora caves in Aurangabad. Even when enjoying a break I am still never far from my work and wasn’t surprised when I was presented with the wonderful opportunity to share a little of that with Calcutta.

What an amazing time I had in Konnagar working with art collective group Pancharathi to create the first public mural in this borough!! Presented with a ‘Sit & Draw’ Drawing Competition for youth in the community, Pancharathi envisioned presenting a large public wall mural painting to be exhibited as an introduction to street art for Konnagar. Created over 2 days with various student volunteers, the mural proved to be a lovely and welcome addition to the local landscape. Pancharathi are accomplished artists and instructors who are passionate about arts education, fostering many local students on their journey into the world of visual arts. The experience proved to be a lot of fun for everyone involved. The ‘Sit & Draw’ competition was a huge success as well, drawing upwards of 500 students, aged 7 to 18, who created original works imbued with imagination, sophistication and cultural pride. This was a real treat for me as I was able to meet & interact first hand with many young fans of street painting – that is always a reward in itself.

I must extend my sincere congratulations to all the winners and participants! A very special thank you to my dear friends Sayak Mitra, Saptarshi Raha and the entire Pancharathi team for inviting me to this fantastic project. Additonally, a personal thank you to all involved for the gracious and warm welcome I received from the entire community. Photo credits: Ridhwik Dutta 🙂

On New Year’s Eve, Studio 21 gallery curator & friend Manas Acharya, invited me to present a short demo and lecture on my work and the 3d street painting art form. A perfect venue for a street art offering, Studio 21 not only showcases new artists but has championed the street art genre in Calcutta. There has been tremendous interest regarding street art genres in India in the last few years and I feel it’s important to contribute by providing information on what it takes to get into 3d street painting. I’d personally like to see more street art generated in cities like Calcutta & Mumbai as these urban centers are teaming with young artists open to exploring non-traditional art genres.

The presentation consisted of a 2 hour demo painting, which I created in situ on an adjacent alleyway and a slide presentation on my work and it’s applications. I had a lot of local neighborhood children who came by to watch the work being created and residents showed interest and curiosity in the demo. The lecture sparked some engaging dialogue on the relevance of street art today which indicated that there may be a place for it in Calcutta. I hope so! Ultimately the goal is to organize a large festival or exhibition of street painting in the city, and other cities around India, which would provide opportunities for local artists to experience this genre  first hand.  A big thank you to Manas, Studio 21 & CIMA Gallery for sponsoring my presentation & supporting street painting in India; and to all my friends and fans who came out to support!

For more info or interest regarding street painting events in India please drop me a message here.

If you’d like to see my more awesome photos from India, including my trip to the Ajanta & Ellora Caves, you can check out my Facebook or Flickr pages: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tracy-Lee-Stum/29196112524

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tlsart/