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Time of India
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Six works that define Tyeb Mehta brilliance
Critic and Curator Uma Nair has been writing for the past 35 years on art and culture She has written as critic for Times of India and Economic Times. She believes that art is a progressive sojourn. She learnt by looking at the best shows in Washington D.C. and New York. As author her most important books are Reverie with Raza and Meditations on Trees by Ompal Sansanwal. LESS ... MORE India's greatest million dollar master Tyeb Mehta turns 100 on 26th July 2025 and this milestone is a moment to look at six of his most unforgettable masterpieces created during his lifetime. In an interview to me in 2005 he said: 'I learnt to paint with very little money when I started in the 1950s. It makes you struggle, but the art that is born out of a struggle is different. Yes, it is an artist's dream to capture a market like Picasso, but I did not create art for a market, it was for myself. I created at my own pace.' ITC Maurya's Bull The diagonal, and the bull were his favourite subjects. This work at ITC Maurya Delhi is a masterpiece in melancholic meditation. Tyeb's genius lay in his use of colour, composition, and his radical painting technique of goat planes and fragments. His use of colour here is theatrical: set against a background of darkened planes, the palette is energised to a new intensity with each colour vying for supremacy against his more habitual hues. The figure of the bull bursts with life, imbuing the work with emotional charge and drama. The central theme finds its corollary here, its meaning amplified by the subject of the bull a symbol of torture in slaughter houses in Mumbai. Mahishasura 1997 Sold at Christie's in 2005, his Mahishasura,created ripples in art circles. Ranjit Hoskote wrote that 'the bodies of the protagonists slip and knot over one another, entwined as though in some exalted act of yogic origami; the disembodiment, the torsion and the inflammation become tropes of war and love.' Tyeb's distillation of highly mythic religious themes of this story to a single frame, recast Mahisha as a sympathetic figure in a seductive embrace with flat colours and the planes all created their own story. Durga Mahishamardini Sotheby's Painted in 1993, Tyeb's Durga was executed during a time of rising communal tensions in Mumbai. In late 1992, a series of brutal city-wide riots greatly affected him. In this state of mind he created masterpieces. Unlike his earlier diagonal works which directly dealt with misery and suffering, the present work evinces a feeling of hope and optimism, transmuting thoughts into a sophisticated multi-layered commentary on the subject of human drama. Durga Mahisasura Mardini uses a passionate palette and poignant imagery resonant of this period in time. The two figures, the goddess Durga and Mahishasura, oscillate between abstraction and figuration. Falling Figures The falling figure, the goddess, the rickshaw-puller and the trussed bull are some of the recurring motifs in Tyeb's works. Many of his works are meditations on the human propensity for violence. The falling figure, making an appearance in many of his works, is a modernist symbol of universal suffering that he applied specifically to post-Partition in the image of the vertical falling figure, these works had their own enigmatic aura. Rickshaw 1984 This rickshaw image with figure is a nostalgia driven work, it reminds us of rickshaw-pullers that pepper the dusty roads and winding inner winding roads of Santiniketan and Kolkata to this day. Tyeb as artist-in-residence for two years in Santiniketan in 1983 saw the Figure on Rickshaw painted during this stay. Tyeb's invitation reinforced his preoccupation with human sufferings and the celebration and appreciation for life within. Christ TIFR A rare work is his Christ at TIFR created many moons is a passionate blue work that has a hint of melancholic meditation. In all his paintings we see the surfaces were usually matte sheets of flat colour. He applied cubist techniques of fragmentation to depictions of movement from ancient Indian sculptures. Layering iconographic elements into a sparse arrangement, his paintings have acquired acclaim for their sense of movement and profound humanism. Known as a careful and meticulous painter of grace and gravitas, he painted no more than around 300 works in his lifetime. In this 100th year of his birth his words about creating paintings with myths remain true and filled with integrity. ' You see with myths one cannot be in a hurry. They should settle into the memory so that you can stop and dwell on them at length.' Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Artists have an inner search in Voices
Critic and Curator Uma Nair has been writing for the past 35 years on art and culture She has written as critic for Times of India and Economic Times. She believes that art is a progressive sojourn. She learnt by looking at the best shows in Washington D.C. and New York. As author her most important books are Reverie with Raza and Meditations on Trees by Ompal Sansanwal. LESS ... MORE At the prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai, the Auditorium will unveil 26 Indian and International artists in a show by Bespoke Art Gallery that transcends the beauty of materials and mediums, metaphors and meanderings. Within the compositions of paintings ,drawings and sculptures these masters will reflect realities and transformations of everyday experiences and memories into artworks that engage our visual is an inner search in every artist in this show that celebrates composition. Sudip Roy's offering (Aarti ) The exhibition opens with a pair of watercolours on the city of Benares by Sudip Roy. His offering is a stunning surreal work that demonstrates how colour can be an integral part of an artist's language — how it can become a subject itself, or be deeply tied to memory, identity, culture, as well as a sacred ritual ' as old as history and older than time'. Through his distinctive practice, we gain insight into the uniqueness of his individual approach to watercolour and weaving surrealism into the spectacle, as well as discover surprising similarities between old masters and this Bengal master. Sudip captures the essence of elegance and the magic of the nightfall, showcasing the allure of cities in India as never before. His image tells stories of desire, and sadness , spirituality as well as intrigue, and power play in the intensities of cities leaving an indelible mark in our cultural history. Dashavataras Arpitha Reddy's Dashavtaras leads the show in a template that brings alive temple mural traditions from the sacred paintings in Guruvayur in Kerala. Arpitha has been creating works that create corollaries in the many avatars of Lord Vishnu for the past 10 years. The human figure in deities and details create the finesse here. Lord Krishna is among the best. Nilesh Vede Animus and Anima Nilesh Vede's Animus and Anima are a pair of human portraits taken from Carl Jung's famous essay that speaks of the masculine and feminine dualities. Nilesh is a succinct and supple creator of the human form. His men and women portraits are textured with the lexicon of the devanagari script which is the root of the Marathi alphabets. Moody and metaphoric this work is a stunning creation. Muzaffar Ali's horses Amorphous and elegant are Muzaffar Ali's pair of horse studies that emanate the moody reverie of contemplation in horses. Hoshruba is a panoramic canvas that echoes the beauty of equine creatures all over the world. Muzaffar says a horse should not be treated cruelly for human gains. His Raaz and Hoshruba belong to his two solo shows held in Delhi. Arzan moving ahead Arzan Khambhatta's Moving Ahead is a veritable testimony to time in the wake of man and his many leanings in a life in the urban city. Arzan an architect turned sculptor says his work is about the togetherness of men who work to accomplish the impossible. His work consists of a single portrait of man and a few images and the architectural nuances that frame the singular act of struggle and accomplishment. International artists This exhibition VOICES is also about celebrating creative expression amongst international artistic voices from the world like Spain,Australia, UK, and Uzbekistan, from the collection of Devin Gawarvala founder of Bespoke Art Gallery,Ahmedabad. Within the multiple mediums of works we see an unfolding of personalities and the power of compositional reach in terms of process and practice in artistic perception and perspective. Jesus Curia Bench At best a work of art could hinge on the representational ,the abstract, the figurative as well as non-figurative. While in its odyssey of creation it is at once unique and sufficient unto itself, it is the creative act that makes it palpable so that it generates its own life. Spanish mentor and sculptor Jesus Curia's small bench with two humans is a silent spectacle of sorts, it speaks to us about reflective reverie as well as the notes of contemplation when we sit on a garden chair or a bench. The design dynamics go back in time reminding us of paradisal gardens all over the world. Curia's Construction II is a work of depth and grace and gravitas. This unisexual human stands alone in an urban syntax with rusted ruins forming his lower body. Patina and perfection are the elixir of Curia who is a brilliant genius in the manner of humans he creates in myriad moods. Timur D'Vatz trio To look at three works of Guiness World Record Holder , Timur D'Vatz is to know that colour is king in the hands of this master of contemporary reality. His three works, Heraldry, Astrology, and The Hunt reflects that he has the hallmark of perfection in the way he demonstrates how colour can be an integral part of an artist's language — how it can become a subject itself, or be deeply tied to antiquity, to memory, to identity, culture, or nature. Bhajju Shyam's elephant Bhajju Shyam's elephant is a cry to humanity on the cruelty meted out to elephants at temples and other places and events. It heralds the need for making to do something about the extinction of species. Bhajju is a Gond artist who has created many elephants in the beauty of his own textural terrain. These images by 26 artists define their own space, their understanding of delineation, within their own perspectives of colour and composition. Within their own ideas of harmony and dimension their works of art have to be experienced by the audience that come to seek their own utopia within the space of this historic at the Jehangir Art Bespoke Art Gallery from Ahmedabad VOICES is a veritable debut that seeks to unveil artistic resonance. Images: Bespoke Art Gallery Ahmedabad Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Musee Mattise, and a painted museum-quality lehenga
Critic and Curator Uma Nair has been writing for the past 35 years on art and culture She has written as critic for Times of India and Economic Times. She believes that art is a progressive sojourn. She learnt by looking at the best shows in Washington D.C. and New York. As author her most important books are Reverie with Raza and Meditations on Trees by Ompal Sansanwal. LESS ... MORE Jayasri Burman, India's legendary woman artist who celebrates the fertility of the universe within, in her works, has over 40 years, created a vocabulary that journeys through various environments that encourage or require stillness. From fertile ponds and waters and riverine flows to many a lotus leafed oasis that captures depth and gravitas within feminine fervour, here is art born of mythos and Bengali literature. More than a garment Her painted lehenga for Radhika Ambani's aashirwad was more than a wonder and today it reaffirms the interdependence of man and nature. Aesthetic beauty, meaningfulness and multiple references all come together in this epic creation. Styled by the brilliant Abu and Sandeep, this lehenga proved to be more than a garment. Distilled in the prism of a man and woman union, it is the study of a universe that is filled with realms that resemble a sacred ritual, a time for pause in a world that has forgotten how to nurture pause, a balm in the frenzied pace of our urban and digital lives. Root memories It also reminds us of the great story of the vineyard of Aeolus. In the story it is said that the earth has memory, like the vine. For us humans, it is a question of synchronising this root memory and that of the soils . In addition, the vines must respect the earth. Within the tapestry of imagery created on this lehenga that was a fruit of 16 hours every day for 30 days, the entire ensemble echoes the story of root memories born through the crucible of experiences but harnessed through an odyssey of personal explorations of Prakriti (nature) that she considers her backdrop for all her narratives. Musee Matisse at Nice In her odyssey of the lehenga, Jayasri says she was in South of France when the call came through at the Matisse Museum in Nice. She was enchanted by the different works in the chapel related to the museum. It has important works linked with the Vence Chapel: 13 maquettes for chasubles and vestments, 3 maquettes for the chapel, 2 studies for La Jérusalem céleste stained glass window and a maquette for Les Abeilles, 2 large drawings representing St. Dominic. The large drawings of the priest St Dominic impressed Jayasri the most. She says it inspired her to do the same for this lehenga as she flew back to India. Jayasri's evolution over the years has reflected her love for Indian cultural heritage, and the legacy of our textiles, and she wanted to reproduce her artistic sojourn like Matisse on this precious Indian garment. Jayasri says, Radhika said she wanted to hang the lehenga on her walls someday, so the medium had to be a long-lasting choice. She got a canvas that would flow like a cloth and that's how it was decided it would be an Italian canvas. Light and landscape Light and landscapes in rich tones within the tenor of a fertile and vibrant universe is Jayasrii's leitmotif. Like Matisse, Jayasri has developed a distinctive style characterized by strong colours, simplified forms, and a focus on capturing the essence of the environment. Within her universe of flora and fauna, the little ducks the lotus blooms and botanical brilliance; we see the intensity of the play of light as well as nature's essence as her constant inspiration. Mounting Mood magenta This is not a fabular tale but a real story of a union of two individuals who are distinctive. Anant Ambani's love for animals is seen in the landscape so deftly created with charismatic contours and expression. Jayasri says she cut 12 canvas pieces, mounted them on a ply board, and began her painting after creating the background contours with her pens. Her palette moved into a moody magenta , a tone she had encountered in previous engagements with the family. Within the medley of mood and colour we note that Jayasri interweaves moments of emotion with artistic flair — all stamped with a hidden, magical signature of the feminine form. Lehenga as a relic This lehenga will be a relic in the pages of contemporary art and couture history in India as well as the world. It reflects Jayasri's search for subjects and thematic ideologies in the framing of feminine forms and nature. It reminds us of the connection between humans and Earth transitions that lead to inviting conservation and human intervention for preservation of Prakriti. Years ago when she came to Delhi in the 1990s at her first solo at Gallerie Ganesha, Jayasri said: ' In my life, creativity has been the most important thing because creativity to me is freedom.' Now so many years hence, a year after she finished creating this dramatic lehenga she says: ' Creativity is a beautiful way of living life because you can create your own style in a different manner. It is not only about art, it is about life, about people, about everything. Creativity for me is endless. Creativity allows me to appreciate different cultures, different hearts and learn from great Indian as well as European Masters. And it also allows me to have knowledge about the impact of my own work. And that's where my inspiration for painting comes from.' This delicately created lehenga in a subtle way states that nature is the glue that holds us together and unravels its secrets in the sifting of light from the mood edits of darkness and springing works that delight the mind's eye. Indeed when hung on a wall it will be more than a mere decorative backdrop. The composition of the vivid and surreal paintings drawn from Indian spirituality and life, with the emotional charge of the work, rendered within each meticulously created form is about matrimony and memories pressed between the pages of our minds. (IMAGES :JAYASRI BURMAN STUDIO) Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Pundoles Ode to MF Husain this June
Critic and Curator Uma Nair has been writing for the past 35 years on art and culture She has written as critic for Times of India and Economic Times. She believes that art is a progressive sojourn. She learnt by looking at the best shows in Washington D.C. and New York. As author her most important books are Reverie with Raza and Meditations on Trees by Ompal Sansanwal. LESS ... MORE 21 Lots created in 2004, under the acronym OPCE ( Our Planet Called Earth ) go under the hammer at Pundoles on June 12th, 2025. These 21 works belonging to an original set of 100 works are Husain's paean to the earth on World Environment Day 2025. One of the most articulate as well as artistic voices in newly independent India, Maqbool Fida Husain 'has been unique in his ability to forge a pictorial language which is indisputably of the contemporary Indian situation but surcharged with all the energies, the rhythms of his art heritage'. This epic sale at Pundoles reflects the journey of Husain, between latitude and longitude, of how he was drawn to images that captured the true essence of Indian traditions as well as international lifestyle, whether it was in urban or rural settings. M F Husain's words of 1959 swing back : A cartload of leaking milk Lights up the lane And a boy begins to eat up the town With shoeless walks On empty steps We cruise through stirring 21 Lots and see that he frequently drew from his own childhood experiences and memories to create paintings that were grounded as well as legitimate. These works at auction reaffirm Husain's lasting international resonance, securing his place as one of the most influential modern artists of twentieth-century India. It was Ebrahim Alkazi who said that it was this melding of experiences and memories that made Husain paint ' with the same visceral truthfulness and sense of commitment as the woman grinding corn, the potter at his wheel and the same lack of pretension.' Still life with Carl Jung His still life study of a chair with 4 books in Lot 4 ,has a rifle, a vintage hunter's hat and a single boot as an ensemble to create a story of specifics. The hunter's hat and rifle add to the pain and pleasure of hunting. The books are a lexicon in satire and work is also a testimony to time, specially Carl Jung whose book lies under the chair while Karl Marx's Das Kapital , Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali and TS Eliot's Wasteland sit on the chair. Between these four texts we see a running commentary of the publishing dynamics that ruled the world in the 20th century. Masterfully rendered with Husain's confident contours and an evocative yet elegant palette it is the consonance of the visual and the verbal, the power of the human mind of great writers as well as T.S Eliot's poetry that bring back his words so many years hence: And I will show you something different from either Your shadow at morning striding behind you Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you; I will show you fear in a handful of dust. Antiquity and modern dancers Two works that translate the beauty of dance at Lot 5 & 6, are a treat for tired first one is a contemporary composition of a western dancer with a dove resting on his hand while a bottle of wine rests on his raised had watched Merce Cunnigham in New York and came back to discuss it at Vadehra Art Gallery in 2004. ' I watched him create surprise in an instant. A critic who sat next to me said that Cunnigham liberated dance from established practice as well as historic convention.' In a quaint way Husain too celebrated the infinite possibilities of human movement just like Cunnigham and this portrait bears this truth in all its moods as well as a sense of reverie. The second work has two once ethereal and earthy, Lot 6 has a pair of vertical feminine figures who are at once a blend of the ethereal as well as the sculptonic earthy symbolism. The ethereal is one takes a swirl as she is attuned to the contemporary choreography of a modern dancer while the second reminds us of little Ganesha in her hand is a reminder of the fact that Husain was well acquainted with rasa and he wanted to play between the contrasts of being in movement as well as anchored. In these two feminine forms created in subtle strokes we see how he tuned himself into the disciplines of several performing arts. For Husain , his paintings were pulsating visual narratives of the vibrations of dance, music and sculptural intensities presented in a thrust of jagged thrust lines and colours. The feminine form for Husain was an ' abbreviated rhythmic stroke of the universe.' These two figures are born of a distinctive visual language ,conveying a refined poetic sensibility and quiet elegance. Nataraja in tandava The image of a sculptural Nataraja Lot 7, in smooth, sleek lines is a dulcet image of soft, secular detailing. Let's not forget his knowledge of Indian mythology was deep. Most of his collectors too were staunch Hindus with deep faith. Myth for Husain was perhaps more than an umbilical attachment. Myth was born of the beauty of stories that rippled amidst the human figures that strode his canvases. This figure of the pared down minimalist Nataraja in Tandava is a celebration of a composite Indian culture in which the scale and scope is one that brings alive the unforgettable Lord of the dance. However it is the sand coloured , shaded image that catches our intrigue and we wonder at the many references that flow out of its graceful poise. Human hands and feet for Husain were more than mere limbs ,they were vehicles of power in the ultimate principle of human existence. Gandhi in monochrome Gandhi in monochrome at Lot 8, with a dove replacing his face, is a date with India's freedom struggle. The pocket watch, the dhoti, the many people following during the Dandi and the lone sickle wielding farmer all become a page of the past and the present. Gestures and grace weave into the firmament of politics and realities. In the paradoxes of life's acts and scenes he made an elegant and eloquent dissection of space, lines and kept reinventing figure and form with the strokes of prismatic precision. Ebrahim Alkazi elegantly encapsulated in his monograph on the artist, 'behind every stroke of the artist's brush is a vast hinterland of traditional concepts, forms, meanings. [Husain's] vision is never uniquely his own; it is a new perspective given to the collective experience of his race […] Husain's concept is intensely poetic: with a stroke of genius, the entire mythic world which has enriched the minds of the common people is brought vividly alive. Past and present, myth and reality are shown to exist simultaneously in the Indian imagination' (E. Alkazi, M. F. Husain: The Modern Artist & Tradition, New Delhi, 1978, p. 17). Humphrey Bogart leaning on a lamppost Husain was an artist with wings on his travels around the world sharpened his wit and humour. Humphrey Bogart at New York (Lot 2) leaning against a lamppost is both kinetic as well as cinematic. At once we recall the unforgettable Casablanca. Husain followed Indian as well as international traditions of dance and drama, music and cinema to create his own corollaries in conversation. Art born of tradition skewed into contemporary format became his catalyst. And Bogart was a symbol of the classics in cinematic history. In this painting he replays a scene, and the hound that nestles against the lamppost is a canine star. Strokes for Husain were lean and lithe. ' He can draw and paint with complete surrender to the sound and graphic representations of these modes. Musical rhythm or pure sound finds its way easily into the schemes of the paintings' (R. Shahani, Let History Cut Across Me without Me, New Delhi, 1993, p. 1). IMAGES: PUNDOLES Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Oldest materials and beauty of the environment
Critic and Curator Uma Nair has been writing for the past 35 years on art and culture She has written as critic for Times of India and Economic Times. She believes that art is a progressive sojourn. She learnt by looking at the best shows in Washington D.C. and New York. As author her most important books are Reverie with Raza and Meditations on Trees by Ompal Sansanwal. LESS ... MORE At the Bespoke Art Gallery at Ahmedabad, it is the English Methodist hymn that hums in our senses as we glimpse the world's oldest materials, pen and paper and clay that extol the beauty of the earth as trees, as ceramics and a steel wired sculpture to harness World Environment Day that falls on June 5th ,2025. Tribal artist Bhajji Shyam India's tribal artist Bhajju Shyam creates a tall Vriksha that melds miniature tradition as well as textural nuances in his work that at once serenades the tireless striving of familial groups that tirelessly venerate the ecological the lens of his life in Madhya Pradesh Bhajju's painting and drawing as a testimony to trees all over the universe as sentinels of time. Leena Batra celadon Senior ceramic artist Leena Batra's celadon pot is a humane ledger of the genesis of ceramic studies in form and fervour. Leena takes us back to the term 'celadon ware', also known as green ware, which refers to a type of ceramic with a soft grey-green-coloured glaze. The effect is achieved through applying an iron-rich liquefied clay 'slip' to the ceramic before it is fired in a kiln. During the heating process, the iron oxidises to leave a delicate and lustrous green its later European name, the celadon glaze technique originated in China during the Shang (1600-1046 BC) and Zhou (1046-256 BC) dynasties, when potters began experimenting with glaze recipes. Saraswati's towers of tea ceremony Anagama fired stoneware stand like sentinels in silence as Saraswati's towers of tea ceremony bring in different elements that extol virtues of everyday living. Density, depth and texture all become her leitmotif in a series that tell stories of time and tide in glazes and gravitas. Saraswati who lives in Auroville says that her towers tell stories of life and humans and households. Within the details and dynamics we move from the mechanics of the craft of clay and firing to portray compelling characters in form, develop effective narrative structures, and edit ourselves into focus to the more profound questions of artistic resources and reflections that will remain as cherished memories and experiences. Keshari Nandan's Picasso platters Of verve and vivacity in stoneware are Keshari Nandan's stoneware platters sculpted as a tribute to Pablo Picasso who created his ceramic ware and painted owls and bulls over them. Keshari creates a sculptural identity by creating an owl and a bull on a pair of platters. Keshari and award winning ceramic artist reminds us that Picasso used his playful approach to the medium, and embraced the motif of the owl, its presence recurring prominently through many of his ceramic works. The allure of the subject was stimulated in Vallauris, alongside his growing appreciation of ceramics, as the owl was an ancient symbol of the neighbouring town, Antibes. The connection with the figure of the owl was deepened when the artist discovered an owl with an injured claw during his time in Antibes. Picasso's partner Françoise Gilot documented this experience in her autobiography, Life With Picasso, stating 'one of his claws had been injured. We bandaged it and it gradually healed. We bought a cage for him and when we returned to Paris, we brought him back with us and put him in the kitchen with the canaries, the pigeons and the turtledoves.' A great lover of animals, Picasso gained a great affection for the bird, incorporating the muse into the many whimsical ceramics he went on to create. Vineet Kacker's quartet of Buddhist iconography Vineet Kacker's quartet of iconographic symbolism in his single square study as well as three chorten like Buddhist compositions all have an aura of quietude and meditative stillness. Three works belong to his In You I Am series in high fired stoneware while we are drawn toward the beauty of glazes and square plate Transmigrations reminds us of archaeological excavations that bring back the past and regale our senses as we visit the pages of glazes in the other three works have their own aura of enchantment and the transience of life. His quartet of works draw from the landscaped iconography of the Himalayas, while his built forms reference the sacred, and personal engagement with sombre spiritual disciplines. His sampling of sequences from familiar imagery to living traditions create a corollary of conversations of multiple ceramic techniques within a single piece, recreating both landscapes and iconographies. His rough textures and the use of layered dry glazes create surfaces that reference the ancient and time-worn. The contrasting shiny embellishments allude to that which is luminous and timeless. Dhananjay Singh's Tree The centrepiece at Bespoke Art Gallery's Purusha Prakriti show is Dhananjay Singh's Tree created out of steel wires. This work becomes the contemplative ethos of the show that heralds the environment as an emblematic symbol of civilisational cultures. As a lifelong admirer of flowers and plants, Dhananjay is particularly fond of trees and has never stopped depicting them from his youth to his later years. The present work belonging to the Devin Gawarvala collection was part of Saffronart's exhibition Alchemies of Form, a show of sculptural masterpieces at Bikaner House this year for the India Art Fair. The sculptor uses simple yet expressive leaves in steel as well as wired steel to portray the trunk reminding us of minerals as well as the botanical beauty of trees as exemplary spirits in the infinite pages of nature's bounty. In the saturated material suggestions and the power of trees that fill the earth this sculpture brings alive the Swiss author Herman Hesse who said: ' Trees are sanctuaries.' For founder and collector Devin Gawarvala of Bespoke Art Gallery, commerce, culture and collecting all come together to create a synergy that points at the need for being guardians of cultural preservation in the odyssey of preserving contemporary art practices and all that is therein. Images : Bespoke Art Gallery Ahmedabad Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
