2004

Seen from the little windows of our imagination, nature often does seem monotonous. Aller all, it is the same pool of water we have been seeing every day, with the same lilies and leaves floating around. Our consciousness has not been tuned to see that the flowers we see today are not those of yesterday, or the pond itself is not what it was when we left it the previous evening. Why the previous evening? it is changing every minute, even as we watch. Although everything in nature appears apparently the same, there are subtle shifts that only those with an elevated consciousness can see. This we call the third eye.

The question for artists like Surya is: how does one capture on canvas the subtle changes in nature? How does one represent the subtle movements that are sometimes so minute that on canvas they become clichéd, not just for the viewer who is more likely to see a combined body of work at a given time, but for the painter who paints day in and day out? How does one prevent the ennui that creeps in when one paints the same subject for years together, or prevent it from becoming repetitive? If the painter or musician is bored with his work, the audience is going to be bored too. Surya has abandoned his old medium, oils, or, even if he has not totally discarded it, has combined it with acrylic; given up the brush strokes or, even if he has not completely given it up, combined it with splashing and throwing color on canvas using a brush, to see new facets of nature emerging. He is gleeful, like a child, at having discovered this new mode of using color on canvas and, like the magician, is delirious at the surprising tones, textures and colors that have emerged in the paintings. I use the word magic because these colors have not emerged by mixing them beforehand for a predictable chemical reaction, they have literally leapt from the painter's imagination on to the canvas.

The brilliant colors of his recent work are the result; they stay with you much after you have forgotten what the subjects are or why you visited the exhibition in the first place! There is such vibrancy and vitality in his colors that one can only say, quoting Paul Klee, colors have gotten hold of him and his canvases. The colours have so much childish joy in them that, even though the woods and forests that Surya paints are sometimes desolate and melancholy, the paintings themselves are not. You then begin to wonder, can color alleviate sadness? Can both the painter and the viewer be intoxicated by color in this manner? I do not know. I can draw but one parallel, and that with classical dance. One of India's finest Bharata natyam dancers is often times so consumed with the passion of her dance and the spirituality within her that she truly becomes a Yashoda as she plays with a young Krishna, and you too as the audience can hear the patter of Krishna's little feet and see a mother on the proscenium of the stage wrestle with an especially naughty child.

Surya too is sooverpowered by nature and its myriad shifts that you get drawn into his world. The forest may look the same, but have you noticed the white flowers that have emerged from somewhere today? The pond is the same, but have you not noticed that the lilies have shifted their positions in the pool this morning? And the sky, even the sky that was blue has changed color tonight. At a time when we have stopped seeing the ordinary, we have to be grateful for artists like Surya Prakash who make us see things that we have become immune to. Surya, by his own repeated quests, by his willingness to see the different moods of nature, makes us realize that if only we cared to look, we would be able to see. That there is indeed a mystical quality in nature, and art is all about the quest to capture the essence of this mysticism.

Ratna Rao Shekar

(Tuesday, December 14 to Thursday, December 30)

(Wednesday, October 20 to Saturday, October 30)

One year ago on this very day, the 8" of August, Bhupen Khakhar left his mortal body for his heavenly journey The art world lost a great genius of all time, whose work has inspired an entire generation of artists, and will continue to do so for many more years to come. Many of us are privileged to have known him personally. The unmistakable warmth of his personality is still fresh in our mind. We would like to offer a tribute to this great man on his first death anniversary by presenting the works of a wide cross-section of artists, who one way or another, had some professional or personal association with him. More significantly, most of the work in this exhibition is created especially to honour Bhupen Khakhar.

Bhupen Khakhar, though chartered accountant by training, gave up that profession and instead took up paintbrush out of an artistic urge that led him to devote his life to the pursuit of art. Primarily as a narrative figurative artist, he presented images of the world around him, and succeeded in creating a comprehensive vision of common man united with his surroundings. His personal idiom added vitality to art through tradition, spirituality, myths, and reinvigoration of vernacular culture. His work inspired the younger generation of artists and influenced the language and the philosophy of the contemporary art world. An artist of great maturity and a human being of immense simplicity, Bhupen dedicated his life till his last breath to art and only art. He left us, but his artwork has made him immortal. It is our great honour to be part of this tribute to a great man, to whom we are immensely indebted. We are grateful to all the artists and art critics, who responded to our invitation and made this exhibition possible. We hope that the 8" of August will become a memorable date in the world of art. 

Biendra Pani

(Sunday, August 8 to Saturday, August 28)

Today, we live in a world with a serious identity crisis, which is sharply brought out in Veer Munshi's latest exhibition. Much of the 20th century lived comfortably under the umbrella of a universal humanity. True, there were those who carried on with the hangover of theories of supermen and subhumans. And they, such as Hitler, caused more than their share of trouble, both for humanity and for artists. Hitler exterminated communists, Jews, gypsies and also the Bauhaus set up by artists such as Klee and Kandisky. George Gross fled the country Picasso fought fascism all his life. Obviously art, as we know it today, sided with humanity against racial stereotypes. But mercifully, it was successful in this efforts and humanity lived on.

Today we are faced with this crisis again. After 9/11 (whatever that might mean), there is an attempt to divide the world between terrorists and those who thrive on them. Many of us are not prepared to take on either of these identities. All sorts of alternatives are being sought. Short of their humanity by globalisation, the marginalised are seeking solace in the dead identities of the past, such as caste and community and devastating effects. But these are peasants and their revival of the past is rooted in village society. The artist, with the background of Universalism behind him seeks a past identity in the stars and the ancient signs of the zodiac. Munshi makes the process difficult to swallow. He shows the same sign of the Zodiac lumping together individuals with clearly different histories, such as Hitler, Lenin, Shakespeare, Russel and Dali. It does not work, the artist tells you. Then he tries this out on single individuals, like Nelson Mandela and the Crab Bhupen Khakkhar And The Fish and Gandhi And the Scales. But then, Bill Clinton somehow does not seem to merit a lion, so he gets the hindquarters of a tiger. No, the zodiac is no alternative to an immensely varied humanity.

It is to the credit of the artist that his exercise is honest and straightforward. And he reminds one that there is no solace in searching for new identities. The identity of being human is enough. Resistance is what is called for. And this exhibition is one form of this resistance.

Suneet Chopra

(Tuesday, March 23 to Wednesday, March 31)

Padmashri Dashrath Patel, is among India's senior artists- a contemporary of Raza, Gaitonde, Husain and Tyeb Mehta (they were all together at the Bhulabhai Desai Institute in the 1950s). While working with abstract paper collages Dashrath draws upon his tremendous visual perception of India, its light and its forms. His holistic understanding of Indian culture enables him to render those experiences effortlessly. A whitewashed mud hut reflects red pepper drying on a blue saree in front of it. A dargah, some kites, maybe a 'hanuman' installation, all serve as inspirations for the medium, while a step well or a 'garbhagriha' of a temple could well be inspirations for the form. There are many painters whose works display amazing areas of 'light. This light is painted and put by them in to their work, so it remains static. Dashrath does not put any light into his works. With his usual sensitivity, he merely makes them suitable to 'receive" light. The metallic papers constantly react to the changing light around them and sometimes even bring the viewer into the frame. This makes his work uniquely interactive!

Pinakin Patel

(Saturday, January 3 to Friday, January 23)