Fantasy of Indian Steam Locomotives

A solo show by Kishore Pratim Biswas at Lalat Lala Akademi, 2015

Kishore Pratim Biswas who is one of the Indian contemporary artist is working on Indian Steam locomotives last 20 years. His old memories on steam locomotives which brings a fabulous series of canvas on Nostalgia of Indian Steam Locomotives.  

One fine morning Kishore went to sketch for the Steam Locomotives in the nearest place call "Bandel locomotives workshop" Hooghly, West Bengal, India. He found that the locomotives was obsoleted in India. The locomotives ware disassembled and takeout to museum.

It was a great shocking experience to Kishore...  yet he was not finish his painting. More that 25 years... that  appetite presenting grand solo show on a series of Indian Steam Locomotives painting by Kishore Pratim Biswas.

That is how the Mumbai-based artist describes his latest collection. The nostalgia of the steam locomotives which were running in front of him with the whistling and steaming made him conceptualize his art. Kishore recalls that his initial portraits were of his firemen and driver friends at the locomotive workshop.

Kishore was born in a place where he had a opportunity to watch the STEAM LOCOMOTIVES. Throughout the day the steam locomotives were running in front of him with the whistling and steaming. For him it's a big nostalgia.

The ambiance was like that the locomotives had a giant appearance of the black body with the white steam around him. It was a dramatic visual experience which was making crazy to Kishore. Which was encouraging to kishore bring down the memory on canvas. Kishore used to go to the locomotive workshop day after day to study that from a close view. He seriously had fallen in love to the  steam locomotives. He did watercolor and oil sketch mostly in sepia tone.

In the locomotive workshop the firemen and drivers were to be good friend of Kishore. They always came to him to take a look their picture on the sketch book. Few of them were also sitting with him for making their own portrait. Kishore remembered that, all time their looked very black and dark because of the dust of coal. Their faces always had a interesting sprite of life, which always inspired him to draw their portrait. They never had any complain about their hard life. He loved to sketch them, study their faces with pen and ink, charcoal, soft pastel and pencil. They wore always in a particular dress of dark blue with a cap. Kishore tried to catch their emotions in the character. Watching their lifestyles, listening their stories... still today Kishore is working on their life with the locomotives...

That is how the "Nostalgia of steam locomotives" came.