BHRIGUPATI HAZARIKA, a senior artist hailing from Jorhat, is highly respected in the art circles of Assam as much for his prowess as an artist as for the profound knowledge on art he is almost synonymous with. His wisdom, though, is not restricted to art alone – he has in-depth understanding about several branches of knowledge, poetry and literature in particular, and this gives him a sound perception about works of art in general and the creative processes through which they emerge.

Hazarika, who is going retire soon as a teacher of Sankardev Seminary, Jorhat, is a devoted and highly skilled artist equally adept both in painting and sculpting. Always inspired by the life and works of Paul Cezanne, Hazarika learnt the nuances of art and finer points from the late artist Pranab Barua of Nagaon. By and large, however, it was by dint of his own determination and hard work that he could mould himself into an ace exponent of his craft.

Hazarika started off as a sculptor first and wood-carving has been his passion ever since he was a child. In course of time, his sculptures evolved into abstract form and they bear proof of his skills as well as intellectual depth.

His paintings are always marked by technical soundness, where aspects like lines, forms, compositional integrity, harmony of colours and their application take precedence over any thematic essence. The main emphasis is usually on the interrelation among the objects, lines and colours and how they interact and coordinate with one another is what gives the viewer a unique aesthetic pleasure.

Through the 1970s and the 1980s, Hazarika produced paintings that were by and large figurative and were meant to convey a certain meaning or express a different view of a familiar object or situation. Over the years, his style has shown a gradual process of transformation, evolving into semi-abstract or near-abstract modes. A remarkable aspect of his art is the expressiveness of the line, which is achieved through subtle distortion, variation and uneven movement on the surface. The lines that segment his canvas or shape his objects usually squeeze out of the surrounding strokes of colour, which is what enhances their artistic beauty. The trademark trait of his paintings that at once catches the viewers’ attention is the short, crispy brushstrokes with which the artist applies his colours. The strokes are ‘impressionistic’ to look at, which allows the colours to mix visually when viewed from a distance, and this enables the artist to skilfully balance his colour composition. Because of such strokes, his landscapes may appear impressionistic at times, although in such works the focus is rather on the use of space, segmentation, harmony among the colour patterns and utilisation of their varied luminosity.

Hazarika has taken part in several group exhibitions, workshops and seminars over the years in various places of Assam and outside, including those organised by the Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi and Kolkata. Along with Pronab Kr Baruah of Jorhat, Hazarika held a joint exhibition in Guwahati in 1985. A solo exhibition in the near future is now in his scheme of things.

He has made valuable contributions to creating and sustaining an artistic environment in Jorhat. He played a huge role, along with a few other young artists and art lovers of Jorhat, in establishing the Jorhat Fine Arts Society (JFAS) in 1976. The Society has now grown into a well-equipped art organisation of not just Upper Assam but the entire State. He served the Society in various capacities over the years, and initially, also taught at the Jorhat Fine Arts School, which is still being run by the Society. Hazarika has also helped a few other art organisations to come up in and around Jorhat.

Hazarika has also achieved a lot as a teacher. He is a winner of the NCERT award (1998) for the secondary level for innovative teaching of Geometry through creative process. On the other hand, modules of art education prepared by him (with special emphasis on children) are being used by the Asam Sarva Siksha Abhijan.

An avid reader, Hazarika is also a well-known writer on art-related subjects and has to his credit a book on Picasso, which he wrote in 1981 on the occasion of the birth centenary of the Cubist master. Currently, he is working on a compilation of various articles on art written by him.

We salute his versatility and wish him further successes in life.

d.bezbarua@yahoo.co.in

Debashish Bezbaruah