'Blueprint': Exhibition puts the art of drawing in spotlight

New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) Focused solely on the craft of drawing, an upcoming art exhibition invites art enthusiasts to experience drawing as the most direct expression of artistic imagination, where ideas initially come to life.

Set to open on Friday at Chandigarh’s 105Arts gallery, the month-long exhibition, "Blueprint: What Lines Say", brings together an expansive spectrum of old masters, modern icons, established seniors and emerging talents.

Artists featured in the show include the likes of Krishen Khanna, Prabhakar Kolte, RM Palaniappan, R Baalaa, Anjolie Ela Menon, Jayasri Burman, David Malakar, Jaladhar Naskar, Somnath Hore, and Gurudas Shenoy.

It is curated by Kolkata-based contemporary artist Avijit Dutta.

"This exhibition is our way of ending the year with a bang, with rigour, ambition and a sense of purpose. Drawing as a practice is often considered intimate and foundational, yet it is rarely given the spotlight it deserves. With Blueprint, we wanted to create a show where viewers can experience that raw, honest, thinking-on-paper quality up close," Mehak Bhan, founder of 105Arts, said in a statement.

From classical draftsmanship and figurative explorations to abstract impulses and experimental contemporary studies, the exhibition showcases drawing not as a preliminary step, but as a self-sufficient medium -- "art in its most direct and potent form".

"Akin to a newborn starting life in a mother's womb... the exhibition is a start of a search for the raw core within an artist's psyche that may be first identified in the purest art form "drawings that eventually defines the artistic trajectory," said the curator, whose works are also displayed in the exhibition.

"Blueprint" will come to a close on January 5, 2026. PTI MG MG MG