Anup Gupta picks his favourite read of 2023
A collection of amazing visuals by an artist with an exceptional command over form, who sees in ordinary things what others miss
Most of us love a good juicy mystery book. The twists, the turns, the suspense and then finally the reveal – we love it, enjoy it, and indulge in it ever so often. The book that I enjoyed the most this year was not really a mystery book but, for me, it was also nothing less than one. It held a surprise on every spread, at every page turn. THIS IS NOT AN ART BOOK by Ra jKamal Aich is a collection of amazing visuals by an extraordinarily talented creative individual, with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working.
A keen observer, Raj sees in ordinary things what others miss: two lemons are transformed into individuals kissing, RayBan glasses come together to reveal a female figure, an emarti (a north Indian sweet) becomes the face of a lion, a pencil is transformed into a sword, a cricket ball becomes the shell for a snail and captures the pace at which runs were scored in a game.
Raj also has an extraordinary ability to see numbers differently as is evident in the infographics included in this collection. The most interesting one is his capture of his career, on toast! I have seen many more of his signature infographics and wish he had included a few more.
That Raj has studied art, and has an exceptional command over form (he is a graduate from the Government Art College in Kolkata, 2002) is evident in some of the drawings included in the book – the Kali (he has also authored a book on Kali and her 10 avatars, but that is a story for another day) and the Bengali Dracula are just two of those that I enjoyed immensely.
Just as a good mystery book is unputdownable, this one drew me to its pages again and again to savour the beauty of the imagination, the simplicity of the concepts and the exceptional rendition. It’s a visual delight and a peek into the mind of an exceptional artist.
However, it could have been structured so as to allow the reader to catch her breadth. In its current form, it left me breathless and, at times, lost! But don’t let that stop you from getting a copy.
READ MORE: HT editors pick their best reads of 2023
