Although it was a chilly winter evening in Kathmandu, art lovers and critics had something that felt warm at the joint art exhibition of German Artist Gabriele Lockstaedt and Nepalese artist Bidhata K.C. The event was organized by Embassy of Federal Republic of Germany.

The paintings displayed at Tara Gaon Museum are full of inner feelings about the society, life and nature of individual. Inaugurated by ambassador of Federal Republic of Germany Matthias Meyer, the exhibition will last for a week.

Inaugurating the exhibition, German Ambassador Meyer said that it is a matter of privilege to support the art exhibition in Kathmandu.

"An ambassador does a lot of serious work in office, this kind of exhibition of arts also helps them to see the social dimension. This is a good beginning to bring two artists from two continents in one place.”

The German painter Gabriele is known for her work on human life cycle. During the last twelve years, German artist Gabriele Lockstaedt had presented her work in Germany, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, Finland, France, US, Russia, Moldavia and now Nepal.

Well known artist of Germany, her recent cycle displayed a profound expressiveness which has become a pictorial trademark.  “I carried out all works in mixed techniques mainly using acrylic, pigments and a variety of organic ashes. Only the serial portraits are made with ink in combination with acrylics and coal,” said artist Gabriele, who displayed 25 paintings in the exhibition.

“The theme of my paintings comes from my stomach and sometime from my reading. I do paintings also on the basis of my personal journey,” said Gabriele. "I like red color which represents blood, life and happiness.”

Her complementary mixed-media applications include such exotic materials as wooden ashes and volcanic sands. It is for the scattered inclusion of gold, yellow and red pigments to create this special twilight atmosphere.

She sets vast grey level against glowing patches of old and red. Even though grey remains to be the dominating color, each figurative conjure or colorful element symbolizes the emerging transformation of organic matter. 

Embassy of Germany Kathmandu recently brought two women painters from two different countries: Nepal and Germany. In a painting exhibition that went for a week since 4th December at Taragaon Museum, Gabrielle Lockstaedt from Germany and Bidhata KC from Nepal displayed the women prowess in the field of art.

Gabrielle is a celebrity painter in Germany. During the last 12 years, she has presented her work in Germany, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, Finland, France, US, Russia, Moldavia and now Nepal. Her recent cycle displays a profound expressiveness, which has become a pictorial trademark. Now, she sets vast grey levels against glowing patches of gold and red. Even though grey remains to be the dominating colour, each figurative conture or colourful element symbolizes the emerging transformation of organic matter. Her complementary mixed-media applications include such exotic materials as wooden ashes and volcanic sands. It is for the scattered inclusions of gold, yellow and red pigments to create this special twilight atmosphere.

On the other hand, Bidhata KC, recipient of Master Tej Bahadur Chitrakar Memorial Award, is a well-known Nepali painter. Her paintings in the exhibition brought Lhomanthang, the life and geography there. She had visited Lho two years ago, but she says, the memory stayed in her mind so deep that she devoted an entire year recalling through her paintings the people, their hardships and geography. Her uncanny ability of bringing alive in paintings, by using both abstract and impressionistic techniques, the lives of the people she saw makes her stand out in the field.

About 100 paintings by the two artists were in exhibition at Taragaon Center for Arts and Culture until December 11.Similarly, Nepali visual artist Bidhata K.C displayed some of very interesting paintings based on her visit to Mustang. Putting together seven solo exhibitions, she has also participated in a number of national and international exhibitions and projects.

Bidhata always appears to be on a quest to find meanings in things that surrounded her and her works are reflections of those hidden meanings of life. Bidhata definitely shows her artistry via range of art forms from print media to installations to use of multimedia and her commitments to get recognition.

“Some of paintings are related to social and political state of the country. I tried to paint the vicious cycle of poverty and marginalization of the people,” said KC. "My other paintings are based on houses and other buildings of Mustang."