About the Book What is an artist? One who creates masterpieces out of a blank piece of paper. disfigured elements, or a formless stone. While there is great beauty in creating something out of nothing. there is also an anxiousness about whether or not the artist will be able to convince and connect with others.
We come across different people in life-struggling, hardworking, talented, skillful, and some even just wasting life. However, only a handful of people are able to leave their mark. Some can free themselves from the shadows through their passion, energy, skill, and hard work. Nonetheless, one thing all of these individuals have in common is - the struggle.
This catalog is a walk through the remarkable journey of one such artist, Samundra Man Singh Shrestha. He has had an exceptional experience with traditional Newari art, paubha, evolving and updating into conceptualization, experimentation, and creative intuition to explore newness within the paubha field. This is collectively now known as neo-traditional art. Shrestha's visionary work has revolutionized traditional iconography with the amalgamation of realism as well as ingenuity.
About the Author MONA - Museum of Nepali Art - Nepal's first private museum is a great platform that was envisioned for recognition, appreciation, and respect of proficient artists of Nepal. MoNA's attempt at the exhibition of Samundra Man Singh Shrestha is to showcase the journey through the initial rawness, struggle, hardship, and many experiences along the path to success as an artist. Major contributors to the accomplishmen of this exhibition are Rajan Sakya, the Founder & Director of MONA, and providing MONA with their valuable collections of paintings are Birendra Shahi, Prakash Ratna Tuladhar, and the artist himself, Samundra Man Singh Shrestha.
Foreword The story of the inception of MONA begins with the story of Samundra. Before dreaming of and then creating MONA, I had only heard of Samundra as a great artist, I knew how difficult it was to acquire his work. I had heard many stories about his works being displayed in museums all around the world as well as in private collectors' houses and offices, but how could we, everyday Nepali people, ever get to see his art? Or indeed other artists of his caliber, who not only create great artwork but also provide a platform to portray Nepali artists as some of the best artists in the world? I realised we needed to create a museum, a museum dedicated to LIVING Nepali artists, and thus the Museum of Nepali Art - MONA was born.
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