Govinda Lal Singh Dangol
Govinda Lal Singh Dangol works are in various styles and media. He creates landscape, still-life and portrait using oil colour, charcoal, pencil and water colour. In some of his works, he also used collage technique. He synthesizes native tradition with modernity. The figures of Hindu deities like Ganesha, Durga, Radha, Krishna and Shiva are recurrent in his paintings. Since the divinities appear with many hands having various instruments, they are mystical and magical. Furthermore, some of the deities appear on their mounts. Exploiting wash technique, the artist creates subtle gradation of colour and soft appealing texture. The dexterity and fine craftsmanship of the artist make his work the realistic illusion.
Govinda Lal Singh Dangol works are in various styles and media. He creates landscape, still-life and portrait using oil colour, charcoal, pencil and water colour. In some of his works, he also used collage technique. He synthesizes native tradition with modernity. The figures of Hindu deities like Ganesha, Durga, Radha, Krishna and Shiva are recurrent in his paintings. Since the divinities appear with many hands having various instruments, they are mystical and magical. Furthermore, some of the deities appear on their mounts. Exploiting wash technique, the artist creates subtle gradation of colour and soft appealing texture. The dexterity and fine craftsmanship of the artist make his work the realistic illusion.
Influenced by tantric and Hindu philosophy he presents paubha painting with new significance using modern techniques of painting. There is spiritual undercurrent in his works. He creates coherence and harmony between human beings and non-living things around him. His paintings depict the human consciousness through the creative appropriation of abstractionism and the structure of mandala. The arrangement of the squares, circle and gate-like structures in different colours leading toward the centre resembles to the early Nepali mandalas. As the images of principal deity at the centre and subsidiary deities around are missing, his works differ from these early art forms. Early Nepali mandalas are the yantras for meditation and concentration which lead the sadhak’s consciousness toward the central deity where individual self is supposed to unite oneself with the cosmic being. In the absence of the images of deities, the structure seems abstract. The form, not the content, is its own significance.
In some of his mandalas, triangular shapes are more dominant than other, for not only the outlines of the mandalas are triangular but also the combination of the images also lead the viewers toward depth of another triangle. The triangle at the bottom represents yoni, the source of creation, and the image of yoni is further reinforced by another small triangle within the triangle. The combination of colours creates depth and leads the viewers toward the vulva. The male and female principles in symbolic form are on the process of union through which life continues in the world. Discarding the external world, the artist leads the viewers toward the source of our creation.
Dangol’s compositions depict the creative appropriation of the native tradition and the modern form. The concept of the union between the male and female principles are also the elements frequently exploited in Nepali Paubha paintings. Instead of presenting the figures of deities as in the early paintings, the artist presents only abstract images. However, the theme of union between male and female principles is the same.
Smooth gradation of harmonious colours, organic structure of the overall canvas and the combination of exotic images, icons and symbols trigger to the bizarre and magical experience. Despite the fact that the concrete significances may not be derived, his paintings leave the exquisite esthetic experience in the viewers.
Date of Birth : 1946, Kathmandu
Art Education :
G.D.A. Sir J.J. School of Arts, Mumbai, India – 1971
Exhibitions :
Several Exhibition in Nepal and Abroads
1971 : Solo Exhibition, Kathmandu
1977 : Solo Exhibition, Mumbai
1993 : Solo Exhibition, Kathmandu
1994 : Solo Exhibition, Kathmandu
1995 : Solo Exhibition, Italy
Awards :
1971 : 1st prize in the Int’l Art Competition, Mumbai, organized by ICCR
1994 : Special 1st prize RUSSI (Revena), Italy
1995 : Birendra Aishwarya Sewa Padak
1997 : Suprabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu
Collections :
Royal Palace of Nepal & Bhaktapur Museum
USA, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Germany, England, Thailand, Italy
Membership :
Former Chairman : Subject Committee-Painting
Former Member : Academy Council, Humanities, Tribhuwan University
Former Member : Standing Committee, Humanities, Tribhuwan University
Member : Artist Circle
Member : Artists Society of Nepal
Campus Chief : Lalit Kala Campus, Kathmandu
Vice-President : Society of Modern Art (SOMA)
Visit : India, Italy, Thailand, Singapore, Bangladesh