Jangarh Singh Shyam: An ‘important outsider’

On 15th September 2011, Sotheby’s New York auction of South Asian art will present a significantly important piece of work by prolific Indian tribal artist Jangarh Singh Shyam (1960-2001) alongside well recognized and frequently auctioned artists from Indian modern art scene. It is a 7 feet x 6 feet acrylic work painted on paper, mounted on canvas. Although this is not the first time that Jangarh’s work has made its way to the important art auction, it is not a frequent occurrence either.

Check out my article @ 'Hyperallergic'

V.S. Gaitonde: Triumph of the solitude

This post is dedicated to the greatest ‘non-objective’ artist from post independence India, Vasudev S. Gaitonde (1924-2001), popularly referred to as just ‘Gaitonde’. His positioning and influence on Indian contemporary art can be compared to that of Agnes Martin, Clyfford Still and Mark Rothko’s. (This is my take on Gaitonde and I don’t think that I’m exaggerating :-) )

It is frequently written about him that he insisted on not being categorized as an ‘abstract’ painter, but a ‘non-objective’ one instead. It is a topic of debate whether non-objectivity is a form to be recognized separately or if it is a subset of abstraction in the broader sense. But in Gaitonde’s context, I think I can understand why he insisted on the differentiation. The answer lies in the modern history of abstract art in India. Abstract painting in India was dominated by gestural figurative abstraction, and the common practice of ornamenting the ideas with ethnic references and cultural motifs. In such times, Gaitonde’s richly evolved forms and luminous colors must have appeared ‘outsiders’ to some, and it is no wonder why Gaitonde himself must have preferred to remain detached from the established school of abstraction.

It was just not only about established practices, but he also remained aloof from people. ‘Gaitonde enjoyed solitude and spent hours philosophizing about art while his beloved Indian classical music or Beethoven or Mozart played in the background’, mentions well-known Indian artist Prabhakar Kolte in his essay about Gaitonde.

Gaitonde graduated from the renowned Sir J.J. School of art of Mumbai in 1948. As a very original and talented young artist, he was invited to join the ‘Progressive artist group of Bombay’, then. Although this influential group was short-lived for various reasons, all the artists from the group created their own successful careers later. Gaitonde chose a path which was different from that of his peers at that time. His interests in linguistics and ancient scripts, his deep study of Japanese Zen philosophy, and his tremendous artistic capacities led him to create his own original understanding and style. His forms are supremely balanced, robust and most importantly they do not carry any forced baggage of the cultural metaphors. Gaitonde’s colors vary from mystic grays to shimmering reds, but they remain in separate peripheries within the painting space. Why I strongly associate his works with Agnes Martin, Clyfford Still and Rothko is for these vary reasons.

When it comes to exploring form, he is more like Agnes, but makes a stronger statement with colors. At the same time he does not seem as keen in exploring interactive possibilities of colors as Rothko. Gaitonde takes a middle path (and here I find a similarity with Clyfford Still) and indulges into form and color relationship. What is common in all these artists is their ability to project coherent relationship of forms, colors and emotions. There they share a same universal platform and create a phenomenal art.

Like his contemporaries mentioned above, Gaitonde had a long lasting impact on the process of understanding the emotional complexity that resides underneath the artistic rendition. Many artists (even today!) tried imitating him, some succeeded in creating lookalike imagery, but none could achieve what Gaitonde did. His innate spiritual temperament and studies of philosophy are also misinterpreted by many by saying that that was a ‘subject’ of his works. Perhaps it sounds more intellectual to quote something around spirituality rather than his painterly process. The fact is that he was an explorer of forms and colors with meditative qualities deep inside. As a technique, Gaitonde used rollers and brushes, and he used oil paints to create multiple layers of varying viscosities, and all of this assimilated on his canvas to bring out a pure experience of sublime quality.

Here ends my post. It should be treated as a brief introduction to this great artist, and needless to say don’t miss his work if you ever get an opportunity. It leaves a lasting impact on the mind!

(Click on the image for the larger view)

Acknowledgment for images: Glenbarra art museum and Saffron Art.

Tyeb Mehta: The legend of modern Indian art

For those who are not familiar with his name, Tyeb Mehta (b.25 July 1925 - d.2 July 2009) was one of the greatest Indian painters from post Independence era (post 1947), highly celebrated and recognized worldwide for his figurative paintings. He was associated with the renowned Progressive Artists’ Group of India. His paintings are known for their trademark luminous colors, powerful subject matter and expressive brushwork.

In India, sadly, we do not have many art museums dedicated to modern art with permanent exhibits. We have public galleries where if you are lucky you get to see some fantastic shows once in a while. I remember one such exhibition from around 12 years back which was showing works by really big names from the world of modern art in India. The names were familiar to me having studied about these artists in my art school curriculum. 
So there I was, walking very quietly, almost religiously, moving from one painting to another, very conscious of the big names behind the paintings, feeling respectful at a distance. But when I came to a painting by Tyeb Mehta, I felt compelled to go closer and preen at the exotic work before me, mesmerized by the vivid and stark colors that he had used. His paintings were completely different from what I had perceived them to be, based on their prints. Thereafter I rarely missed an opportunity to see his work. ( The opportunities were very rare though :-( ) 

Tyeb Mehta’s paintings have a mystic paradox of subject and application. While subjects strongly echo human suffering, trauma, violence and agony, the painting style is highly composed and structured. He would have easily taken the ‘gestural’ path and it would have been logical at that time. But it looks like he had sort of compartmentalized the subject matter from the style and a strong artistic assurance of discoveries shows through in his work. He was a quiet observer who loved solitude and loved reading. Not surprisingly, he formed his own powerful visual language which had its roots from Hindu mythology to modern historical events like partition of India and Pakistan. Pain and violence was observed, understood and finally rearranged in his own way. So, for example when a composition is based on some mythological story, it’s not laden with the usual pomp and ornaments, and when it is based on a bloody incident on the street, it does not display the cluttered realities of life. Everything floats between Tyeb’s artistic pursuits and the viewer.

Tyeb’s color palette is full of astonishing bright colors, as if picked from flocking colorful market streets. Neither do they replicate any pre-established, well received set of colors, nor do they intentionally project an ‘Indian-ness’. They appear to be an outcome of his personal artistic quests. He painted large solid plains with pure hues of oil paints most of the time. The colors in his paintings engulf the viewer in their span, almost hypnotizing, and when the viewer gradually floats out of these hues, he finds himself facing the brutal subject that the painting is talking about. It is like seeing the painting inside out! It is one indescribable experience and I will strongly recommend you to view Tyeb Mehta’s work when you get a chance.

Weekly market of Bagh: Colors of rural India

It’s been a long time that I have wanted to post this video that we captured while driving through the weekly market in the village called Bagh, in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is a tribal belt in central India located some 600 km from Pune. My wife Nivi and I were passing through this village to see the 4th century Buddhist caves located nearby which have some stunning fresco paintings from Buddhist tales. Quite unexpectedly we landed in this colorful market and were able to see these wonderful people in their weekly shopping mood!


You can see some screen-grabs below and a small one minute video clip which gives an idea of what it was like to be in the middle of a rural Indian weekly market. People wore clothes in combinations of various pinks, reds, greens, shades of white and yellow ochres. These colors, organically evolved, uninterrupted and persistent for centuries, are very symbolic of the preference of people in rural India. Perhaps that’s the reason why these bright colors appear so true and original to eyes. Enjoy!

‘The Jungle Book’ and ‘The Jungle Book’

 

If you were born in India before say 1985, you wouldn’t require any introduction to the aerated soft drink called ‘Gold Spot’. Before the international soda companies came (back) to India in the early 90s, we mostly had options of three cool drinks: Thumps-up (cola), Limca (lime) and Gold Spot (orange flavored). In 1983 as a promotional campaign for Gold Spot, the company distributed Walt Disney Jungle Book comic against a collection of their bottle crowns. I was too young to read ‘The Jungle Book’, but was old enough to get caught up in the cap-collection mania with my friends. Result – my own precious copy of the comic book. Honestly speaking, the children’s books or comic books were generally not very beautifully printed then, and this superiorly printed Jungle book was a thrill to flip through. Baloo, Mowgli, Bagheera and even Shere Khan (the villain) became my close friends. I copied their pictures into my sketchbooks for innumerable times, which I am sure so many other budding young artists must have also been doing at that time. :-) 

Eventually I came to know about Rudyard Kipling, his legendary Jungle Book, and ‘his India’. This was knowledge of the grown-up age and I could not very well correlate it with my copy of the colorful comic book. But sometime in 1994 while I was ambling down a road, I noticed a small, dusty blue, hard bound book in a tiny shop – the original Jungle Book version of 1919! It took me less than 30 seconds to close the deal, the guy had asked for just Rs. 5 for it! Thus I walked away with the original Jungle Book. After that I kept both of my Jungle Books together (I still do). I like to look at their artworks, compare the styles and basically just enjoy having them. The stories in the original blue book are indeed very fascinating and the illustrations are simply marvelous. Some of these are paintings printed in halftone and some are classic line drawings (perhaps etchings?) by illustrator W.H. Drake done in 1893.  The comic version has stylish black inking and is full of colors and cuteness.

I collected several books after that, varying on subjects, belonging to diverse timelines, from comic books to biographies. I feel all of these have some importance, some contribution in my process of becoming an artist. They are very much like memories, each book affecting and influencing my thinking in a singular manner. The Jungle Books have also been a part of this process, two different manifestations of Kipling’s story, impressing first upon my childhood and later on my youth.

A few years back, during one of my visits to the US, a colleague asked curiously (these kind of questions are now becoming rare though) “So you mean you have never been to any jungles for hunting in India?” I said “No! The jungle was introduced to me only by Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book”. :-)

Bhaja Caves: Story of the mysterious simplicity

Not more than an hour’s drive from where I live stands a magnificent trio of ancient Buddhist rock-cut caves. These are carved out in the hills of Sahyadri mountain range and are situated near the villages Karla, Bedse and Bhaja (today’s story is about ‘Bhaja’ caves among the three). In the modern map these locations seem random and obscure, but historically these were religious centers along the ancient trade routes which eventually connected all southern trade centers to the eminent ‘Silk route’ in the north of India.

Bhaja caves date back to 200 B.C., a period of the ‘Satavahana’ dynasty. Artistically, these caves are not as decorative and grand as the other Indian rock cut architectural sites like Ellora, Elephanta caves or Mahabalipuram, but for me, they have always held a mesmerizing appeal. For a long time I failed to understand what fascinated me so much in this relatively plain looking architecture and I visited Bhaja several times searching for the explanation. Finally, I realized that the answers were hidden in the ‘Cultural history’ rather than the ‘Architectural history’!

The central prayer hall(Chaitya Griha) with ‘Stupa’ (Mound like structure depicts Buddha)

These caves are from ‘Hinayana’ period (literally meaning an ‘abandoned vehicle’ or ‘smaller vehicle’) of Buddhism, when Buddhism was just 200 years old. In later years, Buddhism saw a decline in India but expanded in other civilizations. Around 5th century A.D., Buddhism came back to India, but in a changed form – it was now a ‘Mahayana’ (literally meaning a ‘greater vehicle’) school, far more complex, ritualistic and definitive compared to the ‘smaller vehicle’ that existed 700 years before it. Under this new school, not just the way of worshiping Buddha changed, but the architecture, religious motifs and even Buddha’s depiction saw a transformation. Things became ornamental, very decorative and indeed very beautiful! Without doubt it was a glorious time period for art and sculpture in India. The important rock-cut caves were re-carved, a human depiction for Buddha was carved out of ancient simple Stupas (mound-like structure), patrons, chariots, processions, nymphs and elephants now adorned the walls of the caves.

But this wave of change seems to have bypassed the Bhaja caves, now why did this happen? Perhaps these caves were not very important, or perhaps they were no longer on the strategic trade routes, or perhaps they got ensconced in the belts of newly developed forests. The exact reason is not known. But as a result, a very simple, extraordinarily beautiful (not the ornamental beauty) and well balanced original thought stands in the form of Bhaja Caves! I love to drive down there on a weekend to inhale the simplicity of that thought and when I come back home I feel less tangled.

First Colors

Every dawning day in India is immersed in dazzling colors – vermilion reds, shades of deep yellow, greens of all intensities – which form a part of the food we eat, the gods we worship and the houses we inhabit. The mud walls in many houses in rural India are covered with bright paintings of flowers, birds and other motifs which can also be seen – in a more complex rendition – in the traditional miniature and wall paintings dating back several centuries. The colors and the imagery have seeped into the very fabric of life. In the picture I captured a few months back, the 'Chakda' is exhibiting an exotic array of colors while its proud owner is enjoying an afternoon of leisure in the far town of Junagadh, in a corner of western India.

As an artist, I think this is the best place to start my blog, the place where art has formed a spontaneous expression of existence itself.