Madan Lal (Painter)
was conferred with
Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi Sanmaan
Instituted by
Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi
by Shri Atul Dodiya, well known artist
at Punjab Kala Bhawan
Sector 16 B, Chandigarh
on 5th April 2019
From right to left: Diwan Manna, artist and President, Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, Atu Dodiya, artist and Chief Guest, Madan Lal, artist being conferred with Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi Sanmaan and Dr. B N Goswamy, art historian on 5th April 2019.
From right to left: Diwan Manna, artist and President, Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, Atu Dodiya, artist and Chief Guest, Madan Lal, artist being conferred with Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi Sanmaan and Dr. B N Goswamy, art historian on 5th April 2019.
Diwan Manna, artist and President, Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi addressing the audience on the occasion of Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi Sanmaan Samaroh, Atul Dodia, artist and Chief Guest (center) and Dr. B N Goswamy, art historian at Punjab Kala Bhawan, Chandigarh on 5th April 2019.
Artist Madan Lal bears in his persona and art the stamps of both the traditional rural and the contemporary urban, for he was born and brought up in Ferozepur, Punjab, but received his art education in Chandigarh, which ultimately became his home. The culture, heritage, landscape, and motifs of Punjab, added to influences of the miniature tradition, frescoes of Ajanta and Ellora, Sufism and Buddhism, all are layered onto his canvases in vivid colours blending into each other, exuding mystery and depth.
He studied Applied Art at the Govt. College of Art, Chandigarh and taught briefly from 2011 to 2015 at NIIFT, Chandigarh as Assistant Professor. Madan Lal has devoted himself to art full time, beginning with an appointment as Secretary, Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi from 1999-2003, to Secretary, Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi from 2003-’06, and then as Honorary Vice- Chairman at the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi from 2012-’18, working to promote and disseminate art in the region.
Art critic Johnny ML says of Madan Lal’s oeuvre, “In his paintings human beings and their immediate surroundings transform into incarnated beings and new locations in order to exemplify certain truths that lie beneath the layers of quotidian occurrences in our daily lives.”
Seen in totality, Madan Lal’s works are a narration of a personal inner journey and spiritual growth. He blends fantasy and reality, using anthropomorphic images to depict what he calls ‘urban emotions’ of people trapped in the snares of contemporary life, wherein eroticism and love compete with darker conflicting emotions. These images serve as metaphors of the universal human condition, where both sublime and dark forces work simultaneously, causing both creation and destruction. The ‘bull’, symbolic of power and virility, that dominated his earlier series, recedes into the background in his later works, where the ‘parrot’, epitomizing the soul, emerges.
Since 1995 he has exhibited his works in more than 35 exhibitions, prominent among them being at Dept. of Fine Arts, Panjab University and Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, Chandigarh; Habitat Center, Nehru Centre, AIFACS, Nvya Art Gallery and Rabindra Bhawan, Lalit Kala Akademi Art Gallery at New Delhi; Global Art Fair, World Trade Center and Indian Art Fair, Worli, Mumbai; and 58th National Exhibition, Bengaluru.
He has held over 20 solo shows, mainly at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Triveni Kala Sangam and Art Indus Gallery New Delhi; Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi , Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, Art Folio, and Museum of Fine Arts, Punjab University, Chandigarh.
He has also been a part of International Symposiums and Camps at Lakshadweep, Izmir and Antalaya in Turkey, Dubai Art fair, and at Macedonia, Italy, London, Stockholm, Jakarta and Germany.
In recognition of his meritorious art works, he has been honoured with numerous awards: at All India exhibition, AIFACS; Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation silver medal, State Award Gold and Emerging Artist award; Gold medal at All India Exhibition by Avantika, New Delhi; All India Millennium Drawings by Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi and Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; and most recently, the 58th National Akademi Award by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.
Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi feels honoured in conferring the Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi Sanmaan upon Shri Madan Lal.