MANUS - The Inside Pages

MANUS IS AVAILABLE FOR READERS and
ART LOVERS

BUY IT NOW

BUY THIS INCREDIBLE BOOK OF DRAWINGS BY AN INDIAN ARTIST, Soumen Bhowmick.

*SELF PUBLISHED BY THE ARTIST. A UNIQUE ART PROJECT, COMPILED IN A BOOK FORMAT. *726 ORIGINAL BLACK & WHITE DRAWINGS WILL ENTHRALL YOUR SENSES. MOSTLY DONE OUTDOORS AT TRIVENI KALA SANGAM AND MANDI HOUSE. A RESULT OF LOVE AND PAIN IS MANUS. A VISUAL SOJOURN OF HUMANITY. OUR STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL, THE POLITICAL SCENARIO, SOCIETAL DILEMMAS AND THE STORY OF HUMANITY IN GENERAL IS MANUS. WORKED FOR A DURATION OF SIX YEARS. 

A MUST FOR ALL ART AND BOOK LOVERS. A LIMITED EDITION OF 250 COPIES ONLY. FIRST EDITION. LAUNCHED IN 2018, NEW DELHI.

*ALL THE DRAWINGS IN THE BOOK ARE AVAILABLE FOR ART COLLECTORS OR MUSEUMS.

*INQUIRY FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION AND SALE IS APPRECIATED.

*PRICE : Rs.1500/- only (Indian currency).

TO *BUY YOUR COPY OF #Manus

CONTACT : soumen99@gmail.com or DIRECT MESSAGE ME ON MESSENGER.

LOLLIPOP LE LO LOLLIPOP, KHATTA MEETHA KHOONI FASCIST DRIPPING LOLLIPOP...

LOLLIPOP LE LO LOLLIPOP, 

KHATTA MEETHA KHOONI 

FASCIST DRIPPING LOLLIPOP

The devil himself disguised as a man, smooth talking and cunning to the core, suddenly stopped the tired looking me on the path of democracy. I was seeking answers to my smudged out dreams of success and goodwill. Suddenly I realise this devil was selling something, I took a short glance at his merchandise, he was promoting very dark and pretty mischievous but extremely tempting lollipops.

Lollipops are our weakness as humans. Sweet and sour, that's what he was loudly mouthing out. At the same time thumping his fifty six inch chest, a gaudy showoff.

I asked for the price of the tempting goodies, he said it's for free. But asked for my soul in exchange for those mischievous lollipops. I sold out my soul for a lollipop and I regret later on. Still crying in the corner of my failed and much injured body, lying on the ground. The lollipop was poisoned with fascist dubious ideas. It was laced with the venom of hatred and bigotry. So powerful was the poison that I lost my credibility as a human being at the very first bite.

I regret my choice and hate those lollipops to eternity.

MONOCHROME DAYS

Video Documentation of all the Works

#MonochromeDays, #SoumenArt, #Monochrome, #WaterColour, #Paintings

Started working on this series of monochromes in July 2018. These are really recent works on paper. The temptation to challenge myself with a monochromatic approach to the contemporary dualities of our surrounding was overwhelming. Had to address to my inner calling to capture today’s reality in monochromes. The world seemed to me in that tone only. I see today’s reining-societal hatred and crushing of human rights in a more precise magnification while using the aperture of monochrome. Humanity and its accessories are depicted in an absurd and twisted scenario in this series. Sometimes it’s all ogres or it’s totally insane to perceive. Brainwashed and injected with hatred with act like automated morons. The images are all reflection of what my senses absorbed from the world at present. The brutality is somehow subdued with the monochrome splashes. 

“MONOCHROME DAYS” is my answer to several queries on how an artist can portray political and societal madness and nonsensical tyranny in a more aesthetic way. But doing so, not loosing the soul of the narrative. The limitation of of the colour spectrum is required to reinvent myself and my sense of line and colour. As an Artist I find it hard to believe that one can’t invade the web of hatred and bigotry using mere lines and limited colours. I hope I met the challenge honestly. 

Enjoy the monochrome days… 

By: Soumen Bhowmick

MANUS the Book of Humanity

MANUS Book Video of the Pages

MANUS AN ENCOUNTER a Short Film

The moral hazard of sainthood

Tracts for the Times
An art and poetry collective
Election Series

Original artwork by Soumen Bhowmick

The Moral Hazard of Sainthood
by Shujaat Mirza

Now that we have
Home-grown xenophobes
Demagogues as born-again democrats,
What stands between the polls and
The pitch
But a lethal mix of hate-speech,
Hopelessly tied in knots of brazen
Brinkmanship.
And as the desperation arises
Uncannily the bigot rises,
Rushing headlong into the game
Consigning civilities to the flames.
Yes we already know,
They are upto the same old tricks
But we won't let this muck stick!
This forced intercession will be
Contained
The nation has always stood
And will stand
Unified once again.

When the nation is imperiled

Tracts for the Times
An art and poetry collective
Election Series

Original artwork by Soumen Bhowmick

When the Nation is Imperiled
by Shujaat Mirza

When the Nation is imperiled
Poetry becomes Dissent
When the discourse is xenophobic
We need not wait
For a letter of consent
To get things straight
We need to plug the mains
to the circuits
And restore all the grids.
Reckoning it might make each of us Count
And Inveigle our fence-sitting souls
To surmount
Our divisive electric fences.

Inner bigot

Tracts for the Times

A art and poetry collective

Election series

Original artwork by Soumen Bhowmick

Inner Bigot

by Shujaat Mirza

To awaken the inner bigot

You don't need it all stencilled

As a permanently marked skill.

You just need some rusted hate

Inside your head 

That scrambles up your 

Inner state.

And then you are on the

go

To match a prey to a kill.

Trash the hate vibes

Tracts for the Times

An art and poetry collective

Election series

Original artwork by Soumen Bhowmick

Trash the hate vibes

by Shujaat Mirza

As hate begets hate

And starts to circulate

We are walking dead

If we do not emasculate

The clumsy but efficient

Ghost-armies of the potentate.

That devour and feast upon

Each accusation and insinuation

That points you out as anti-national.

This voice that  we still have left

Is what they wish  to obfuscate.

You can choose to fling your hesitations

Or stay stowed  in  venal habitations.

MANUS IS AVAILABLE FOR READERS and ART LOVERS. BUY IT NOW

BUY THIS INCREDIBLE BOOK OF DRAWINGS BY AN INDIAN ARTIST, 

SOUMEN BHOWMICK. 

*SELF PUBLISHED BY THE ARTIST. A UNIQUE ART PROJECT, COMPILED IN A BOOK FORMAT. *726 ORIGINAL BLACK & WHITE DRAWINGS WILL ENTHRALL YOUR SENSES. MOSTLY DONE OUTDOORS AT TRIVENI KALA SANGAM AND MANDI HOUSE. A RESULT OF LOVE AND PAIN IS MANUS. A VISUAL SOJOURN OF HUMANITY. OUR STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL, THE POLITICAL SCENARIO, SOCIETAL DILEMMAS AND THE STORY OF HUMANITY IN GENERAL IS MANUS.

WORKED FOR A DURATION OF SIX YEARS. 

A MUST FOR ALL ART AND BOOK LOVERS.

A LIMITED EDITION OF 250 COPIES ONLY.

*INQUIRY FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION AND SALE IS APPRECIATED

TO *BUY YOUR COPY OF #Manus 

PLEASE CONTACT 

+91 9810661959

soumen99@gmail.com

* MANUS, the visual sojourn of humanity could be yours now. You can buy this book of drawings from the Artist (Soumen Bhowmick) directly. Only few copies left out of a LIMITED EDITION of 250 copies.

* Price, Rs.1500 (Indian Rupees). For outstation delivery courier and packing charges extra.

* It's a self published art book project by the artist. No other publisher is involved.

* For your copies of #Manus please message me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/soumencreative), Instagram (handle : soumenart) or call at M : +91 9810661959, soumen99@gmail.com

* Please kindly write your views or reviews about the book on the comment box of this post.

* A compilation of 726 drawings, spread across 786 pages, will enthrall your senses.

* A one of a kind drawing series on socio-political elements. Six years of drawing series is offered in the form of a book, #Manus.

* I humbly request to all those friends and book lovers who have bought this book to write a few lines as their valuable review of my book. I appreciate your time and words. 

MANUS BOOK LAUNCH

I most cordially invite you to the launch of 

my Book of Drawings, MANUS. 

MANUS, Book Launch and Signing

15 December, Saturday

Timing 1 to 7 PM.

Open Air Art Gallery

Triveni Kala Sangam,

205 Tansen Marg, 

New Delhi. 

Metro Station : Mandi House. 

R.S.V.P. - Soumen Bhowmick 

M: 9810661959

soumen99@gmailcom

A limited edition of 250 original Black and White drawings 

on contemporary issues and life in general. 

Political and social issues were dealt with visuals. 

It's completely self-published. 

726 original drawings. 

Total number of pages 786. 

Price - Rs.1500. 

A critical and engaging foreword written by JohnyML. 

He is an Art Historian, Curator and Writer. 

One of the best we have today in India. 

MANUS book launch teaser campaign

MANUS 

By Soumen Bhowmick​

Book Release & Signing

15 December 2018

Open Air Gallery, 

Triveni Kala Sangam, 

205 Tansen Marg. New Delhi. 

Timing - 1 to 7 PM.

Metro Station : Mandi House. 

Please join me at the book launch. Treat this video message as a formal invitation. Please share this video message with your friends and family. 

A LIMITED EDITION of 250 copies only. A true COLLETOR'S limited edition of original drawings on contemporary Political and Social issues. It's completely self published. 726 original Black and White drawings. 
Total number of pages 786. 

Price - Rupees(Rs) 1500.

A critical and engaging foreword written by Johny ML. He is an Art Historian, Curator and Writer. One of the best we have today. He is an honest and genuine writer and curator India currently have. 

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MANUS BOOK OF DRAWINGS - LAUNCH IN DELHI

WORLD – Painting by Soumen Bhowmick

WORLD, painting by Soumen Bhowmick, 2018

TITLE OF THE PAINTING – World.

SIZE – 75cm X 55 cm (Without frame).

MEDIUM – Acrylic colour and Coffee on paper.

YEAR – 2018.

PRICE – On request

“My world”, these words ring a very painful and dramatic sound of a world full of hatred and bigotry. The humanity is challenged by a very scary Fascist resurgence all over the world. The painting I did carrying this particular title resonates the present time we are living in or to be more precise, surviving. The image of a man lying on a heap of mangled-up flesh and blood and pierced by a word carrying the fascist mark is so very close to the reality of our time. This could be the scenario from any part of the world. This body without any mark of identity on it could be claimed by any religion, caste, nationality or tribe. The pain inflicted on the body is universal. The suffering needs no other language to explain the barrage of hatred and violence humanity is facing now. All the dead people who support this one single body are just pile of flesh and blood. They are our own people crushed under the very wheel of utopian notion of nationalism and development. Sacrificed at alter of fascists’ revival. We resist to be treated as mere victims who should be forgotten and thrown upon a pile of dead bodies, but have a collective voice to rise against this evil onslaught. 

As an artist I fail to accept this obnoxious trumpeting of fascism and reacted in my very own way. Can’t deceive myself and play the role of a mute spectator, the creative soul denies it at all cost. It’s my visual-voice in support to humanity through this painting of the new-age crucificaxion. 

WORLD, painting by Soumen Bhowmick, 2018

MANUS - BOOK DETAILS

You can read all the details of my forthcoming book #Manus here on this page. Only 250  limited edition copies will be there. So one can book their copy now. 

Please call or email me for any query or to book your copy of MANUS. Book launch will be in October/November of 2018 in Delhi.

LET’S TAKE A WALK WITH MANUS...THE BOOK

Sitting at the open green space at Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

For quite some time now I have been troubled by the idea of breaking away from the obvious and the obnoxious pattern of contemporary way of art that we are following and propagating in India, especially. I wanted to face some kind of visual challenge to address this dilemma. I dreamed of creating something of an epic proportion and it should cut across all the human boundaries. The works should merge mankind from all across the shores. My lines should be the lines for all humanity. It should speak the language of a unified perspective of art. Frankly speaking I had only one thing in mind and that was a really troublesome, tiny fickle idea. An idea to talk about humanity in general through what I can do best, that is to draw on any damn surface. Some how, wanted to address my hunger for creation using the most primitive method, drawing. To simply draw on paper is the most satisfying and adventurous voyage for an Artist. You have no chance to make mistakes, no second take or to manipulate short-comings with layering of colours. Drawing is so bloody naked. It’s the most raw and nude form of art. No hidden truths or ambiguities allowed. I trusted upon the lines only, to take on this journey through the land of thousands of emotions and intriguing visuals.

Doing what I do best sitting inside the book store at Triveni Kala Sangam

That was the year 2012, while entering the beautiful and the most engaging creative space in Delhi, Triveni Kala Sangam I realised that, this is the perfect space to hunt for my subjects. Well the subjects were all walking around and spread across the spectrum of Triveni’s wonderful space. They were all humans, engaged in their own world and continuously transmitting visual ideas to my soul and mind. I was just standing there amazed, thinking what beautiful things I can create with all these visual catalysts. “Manus” or “humans” as we say in Bengali (my mother tongue) is the most vital and visible element of any civilization. Humans are the best visual platform of interaction with the rest of the world. Why not create a series of drawings on Manus (humans) itself? First I thought to make large format paintings, at least 50 of them. Then I narrowed down my choice to pen and ink drawings to answer my inner call. I started drawing endlessly, sitting around Triveni Kala Sangam and sometimes at nook and corners of Mandi House area.

Primarily it was Triveni Kala Sangam that made it possible for my lines to take their final shape through this series and book, Manus. Since 2012 to early 2018 I had drawn innumerous number of small format drawings for this series, may be more than 750 of them. Finally in April 2018, I decided to compile the drawings from this series in a compact pocket book. Launched the crowd funding campaign to publish the book MANUS. Support poured in from across India and abroad. But the MANUS still requires some amount of funds and I appeal for your support and solidarity towards achieving the goal of making this book of drawings a success story.

Sitting at the open green space at Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

The pages of MANUS are full of characters that I observed and analysed while sitting around Triveni Kala Sangam. Some are vibrant, others comical or absolutely mundane and some really tragic, but primarily they are all humans. No fantasy sketches or dream talkers. At Triveni, I observed lawyers, corporate honchos, political clowns, love-birds, college students, job seekers, actors, beautiful women with less beautiful mind, heartbroken Romeos, foreign tourists, narcissists with inflated egos, fraudsters, artists and art buyers, teachers with no knowledge of what they are preaching, aspiring models chasing their agents, beautiful secretaries who act more like dumb bombshells rather than what they are actually hired for, rich old men with young sex dolls, bad jokes cracked by some upstart bourgeois, poor and helpless migrants who seemed to be all lost in the city buzz, confused young lover chasing the rich damsel, fashion gurus spreading their pomp and glitz, the all season struggler in life, the highly glossed and primed banias’, big mouth but ravishingly beautiful Punjabi girls and ladies, the JNU-type-intellectuals, the pseudo nationalists, failed film director with his bundles of no-good scripts, socialites performing their only known occupation; killing-time, scores of foodies chomping through highly priced savouries at the terrace garden restaurant of Triveni, ego maniacs foul mouthing on non-issues, political debate by crony political chamchas, religious guru fooling people for donations while enjoying his aloo tikki, the suave marketing guy trying to convince his client for a hard-to-get deal, the young journo with a sharp tongue for everything, the union leader who felt tempted towards the right side of the path, the all too recognizable escapist, the rich man’s brat showing off his filthiness, the amusing acts by the cats and birds of Triveni (they have plenty of them), the classical dancers performing there, the know-it-all art curators and critics, the rich snob and his beautiful entourage looking-down-upon a family of poor Indian farmer begging for food outside the gates of Triveni and many more instances and characters were etched by me on paper using black lines. The global scenario of despair, war, migration and hatred also acted upon my consciousness. Ideas kept bombarding upon the creative landscape of my soul. The naked lines searched for their meaning in this milieu of social, economic and political maze, known to us as humanity/society. 

One of the small format drawings from the MANUS series

Manus the book of drawings is a crucial and honest observation of mankind. I believe my years of creation in solitude will achieve some iota of respect and acceptance in the contemporary parlance of art.

* All photographs by Rajeev Ahuja, New Delhi

MANUS - BOOK OF DRAWINGS

Cover Design of The Book Manus

Manus-the book of original drawings-is a “Tryst with Humanity”. 

It touches upon all human emotions and acts in this temporal world. MANUS, depicts fight for righteousness, virtues, various injustices, oppression, genocide, relationships, struggle for dignity and livelihood all across the world. The global scenario is presented here. It takes into account the Syrian war, global migration, social unrest in Venezuela, economic crisis in Greece and Many parts of Europe, farmers suicide in India and in other countries, the inhuman treatment to our poor labourers and daily wagers, protest by the farmers from Telengana, social unrest in India due to political, social and religious polarisation, the business of hatred and intolerance, the danger to the voice of dissent, the rise of militant fascism around the world, innocence being robbed, the insecure life of a commoner in our cities, rise of social intolerance in various parts of the world, individuals' voice for change and the war mongers viewpoint is also addressed through these drawings. Although I have drawn most of the drawings in and around Mandi House area of New Delhi, various global and national issues influenced my thought process. These lines are the lines of our contemporary life. It reflects what is happening around us, right now and right here. Whether one accept it or not, MANUS the book of drawings will always speak the naked truth. Sometimes it tells you the story of the underdog without any specific global marking.

A Page From The Book Manus

An oasis, for all that makes us human. Born out of sheer observation of our daily nuances, laced in satire and social commentary is served in a black and white format to heighten the visual absorption of the playful lines. In year 2012, I conceptualised and started working on these drawings. Years of hard work will be offered to you in the form of this pocket-book. Fluid, playful and sometimes detailed lines are interpreting today’s time. It encompasses the contemporary societal dilemmas faced by us and the individual’s dialogue of survival and triumph through the many hurdles and falls. 

Foreword Page From The Book Manus. Written By One of The Foremost Art Critic and Writer from India

In this pocket-book part of my on-going series of drawings titled "MANUS", more than 700 B&W drawings spread out over 780 pages will quiver your senses. It will also carry some pages of writings by the artist as well. With its soft back cover and small format, it will be handy for you even while travelling. The Foreword is written by one of the well-known Art Critic, Art Historian and Writer from India. I will not reveal the name right now. Get your copy of MANUS to enjoy his writing.

You will not be able to let go of this pocket-book. “MANUS” will be your constant companion: a compact visual reference book to engage with humanity and also with the self, in this time and age.

It is designed to be a “COLLECTOR’S CHOICE”.

You can email or call me for your copies or any other query regarding the book #Manus. 
You can also check the official MANUS page on facebook.  
https://www.facebook.com/manus2018/
soumen99@gmail.com  |  +91 - 11 - 9810661959