All the works together, present
various dimensions of a spiritual quest, but in isolation none has seemingly explored
it with authenticity. I want to feel that resonance of the universality of
truth, but the works though evocative are not entirely convincing.
In this age of the internet, we
have a group of artists presented as Neti-netizens. Curated by Girish Shahane
at Gallery Threshold, these ‘Vanguards’ bring forth a legacy that produces meditative
imagery which differs refreshingly from the populist present-day avant-garde
expression.
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| Prajakta Potnis, 2010 [41.5x30 in] acrylic & dry pastel on paper |
They are not contemplating the
divine in an abstract sort of way nor are they seeking to define the pulsating
energy atoms behind all creation, instead they meditate upon seemingly mundane
objects of everyday living. Thus rooted, Prajakta Potnis uses careful
brushwork; painting with the kind of attention to detail, Rembrandt gave to
ruff collars in his 17th century self portraits, creating light and
luminous canvasses. Yashwant Deshmukh takes simple objects breaking them down
to bold geometric forms, while Madhav Imartey‘s fascination with a typewriter
or cement mixer gives us renditions of the object’s form and its reality beyond
this and Parag Tandel explores the line as representation and evolution of
thought. In leaving his hand free to discover what it will, he brings forth a
network of dense lines that are dark and foreboding. Thus in their
individualistic ways, they arrive at individual interpretations of reality.
The idea of such consideration
being given to facets of being that are not glamorous or overtly celebrated,
but intimate and personal is indeed charming. Potnis draws a single rail with a
carelessly hung, bunched-up towel with residual body hair, using acrylic and
dry pastel on paper. The handling of the object is detailed to the point of
realistically painting each hair caught on the pile of the fabric and
everything else that may have been in the space around this, is erased. Her
focus is only on the towel where one assumes the rail is nailed onto a wall,
but it could well be floating in space. She does the same with the sofa-bed, where
you can see every stitch, pinch and tear of the mattress, but it has a certain
lightness of being, where defying gravity it appears to levitate.
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| Parag Tandel [37.2x27 cm] gel pen, ink and charcoal |
Using acrylic and charcoal on paper Deshmukh takes a bottle or cone, simplifying the form to the extent of distorting perspective by creating a flat surface out of 3-d articles, belying the physical reality of these objects, as we have seen and felt and known them to be. In doing so, he appears child-like and one could dismiss the work as rough and un-finessed, but in this age of technology this naïve representation is curious and therefore questioned. Unlike Potnis, this austere interpretation does not please in a sensual way. Its extreme simplicity is evocative of peeling the peripheral layers of intellectualization to get to the kernel of the object’s existence, but removed in texture, form and colour from the lushness of the contemporary material world, its appeal is not spontaneous but intellected which defies its own objective.
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| Yashwant Deshmukh - 4 drawings 2010 [20 x 30in each] acrylic and charcoal/graphite on paper |
In de-selecting details and
perspective or elements that constitute the larger environment, most art works
in this exhibition seem to eliminate [or exaggerate] sensory vibrations of the
physical world from which they draw upon for their reference and inspiration.
This creates scope for misinterpretation of the context of their existence and
yet there is a certain uncanny, unquantifiable resonance with the world we
inhabit. It is this almost paradoxical
nature that engages; where I am intrigued but not comforted by these explorations
of the possibility of achieving inner stillness amidst internet connectivity
and urban street sounds. Prajakta Potnis
succeeds the most, for her simple and straightforward canvasses have a visual
pleasantness evocative of the sensual world and she also achieves the objective
of meditation where in her single-minded focus the articles under consideration
levitate, but I am tempted to question this effortless achievement in a world
weighted with desire and the frenzy to achieve.
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| Prajakta Potnis, 2010 [41.5x30 in] acrylic and dry pastel on paper |
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