The Indian Dhobi Ghat : ART ETC - KOLKATA ART MAGAZINE

Most of my life’s experiences are related to the routine life of fast paced commercial capital, Mumbai. I love crowd and people with different level of understandings and views. As I travel in train almost every day, since so many years I have also been observing the never changed scenario of Mumbai’s most attractive (?) sites, which is evergreen. And that is, the public laundry next to Mahalaxmi station lovingly called – Dhobhi Ghat. It is not a huge, grand structure made by any ancient king or reputed business man of modern day, it’s a simple structure built for washing clothes. The clothes are brought there from all over Mumbai. I am always amused by the thought of how well managed, time- precise and logistically organized work process it carries out. It’s organizational set-up is  nothing less than the curriculum learnt at thereputed management institutes. Only differences between white collared jobs at management level and this age old attraction is the outer appearance and educational  degree, else the aim of profession for both is- Perfection. 

This Dhobi Ghat has become a kind of institute for me. I have learnt truths, pondered upon many economical, social and political issues. And I find, that up till now all the researches and analysis have failed terribly in each field due to one reason or the other. The state of India and world is just like the bundle of clothes that are brought at this Ghat. Every bundle has an identity of the agent or the main laundry from where it is brought here. But when opened  and left scattered all the clothes and lining are dirty  and crumpled which have to be laundered to look clean and be ready for use again. For this process a dhobi or a washer man doesn’t need a degree or big fat books to update his knowledge; everyday practice and sound knowledge of colors, clothes and their longitivity guides him to handle each of them carefully.  That's great! It’s metaphoric representation of today’s society.

I am also attracted to it due to its stubborn presence in the heart of the city since so long. Earlier it was the place where the clothes of most famous personalities and chief politicians were bought for washing. It was the most honored place. I think at that time politicians and leaders had clean personality which could also be seen in their clean and stainless dress code. But amazingly, times have changed corruption has entered the very root of the society. Every field is tainted. In fact we can see the mentality of changing world which says …Daag ache hai. It’s a simple statement with deeper meaning.

Whatever is the fact, this Dhobhi Ghat has not changed its value and still it works on the principle of ‘neat, clean and tidy’, with no Daag ever seen. 

So in this world where stains are good(?) Is there any one to play the role of washer man to clean our souls?  We all are waiting for the Godot and hope he comes.

I want to preserve and make this site know to people from every nook and corner of the world. This is my heartfelt attempt. I have given a real look into this maze where a novel ought to get confused and missing. My artworks are the actual photography of the site, washer men and thework process. The water outlets and inlets work as energy to revitalize the shine of clothes which can also mean that there should be some system in our society which would drain off evils and bring in purity and goodness of thoughts and actions. And this is not limited to any particular strata of the society but to every Indian citizen.  

  

I wish to make this place and the artisans here immortal. Like the washer men who clean the clothes, let our souls be cleansed too. As they handle each cloth without biased thoughts, so be our political theory be- equal justice to all. There is some power in their skill that people prefer to wash their dirty lining here than washing it in machines. Doesn’t this subtly mean cleansing society and self in most natural way? Hmm, a point to think over. Plans are on to make Mumbai a glittering city. So before this simple yet highly metaphorical site gets ruined or refurbished I have captured its originality and its very soul of dignified presence in this city of joy and progress.  

Most of my artwork is the four dimension extension of a digital photography. The bright colors are omnipresent along with pure white color on clothesline, well arranged to dry the clothes. The gushing water, slogging washer men, heap of dirty and clean clothes together represent a mini image of a society that we live in.

This unusual place of muse speaks volumes about society itself right from ancient times to modern day. In brief, washer men for dirty linings…anyone to cleanse the soul? This placid place with bustling activities and philosophical values be with us forever- Pankaja JK

more details view click link- for  Buy

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Join on 7th April 2012 - Curator by Pankaja JK

Exhibition view on
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Tathi Premchand : Art and deal issue no 45/ Vol no 15/ feb -March ,2012.Like jalebi to Mill worker bones found at McDonald for Boneless dream of hunger steel- 2012

Why and how can we display a painting in our thoughts without buying it? If ever anybody buys this ‘Boneless’ painting then it is crucial for the buyer to know this because it is more than necessary to keep it installed in the mind but also to understand the depth of the painter’s thoughts poured in it. I have never thought so meticulously about any of my other paintings before this.

I am bit confused as to start from which angle about this painting. The thought of this painting   was lurking in mind since 2009. First  I had thought of making it in digital but as the days went on I doubted whether digital creation would really do justice to this painting; so I finally decided to work upon it in oil colors and was sure that this medium would justify the theme of the painting.

 I am more enthusiastic to share my experiences while I was developing this painting thought. Mumbai 1992- During initial stages I and my friend would seldom visit Colaba- Mohammed Ali road in Mumbai where you get delicious non- vegetarian food. We would go there during dinner time and order for boneless- chicken, bheja fry, kaleji fry etc. (I am deliberately using Indian names of dishes). The thought would cross my mind that may be we had ordered same separation of bones and flesh during Ram mandir- Babri mosque issue. The whole threatening issue was cooked up by separating bones and meat. Bones and flesh are bonded to each other right from the time living being starts existing in nucleus. I myself don’t know why I am giving an elaborate explanation of this painting when I am myself of the opinion that a painting does not need words. Now-a-days even ‘abstract art’ which does not need any general interpretation and every observer should have individual perception; has volumes of books explaining it and also ‘speaking talk series’ are held to discuss it. So I think I can write at least one or two pages on this painting.

I am still trying to know the reasoning behind this painting, why did it dawn on me? A thought struck me just like the bong of Mill labourers’ that would fill the air of Mumbai before mills were locked forever.

That was the time when Mumbai was bustling with mill- labourers’ crowd. The character of mill- worker was so influential that even the motion media especially films were based on life of a mill worker and heroes prefer to play the character of hard working, faithful mill-worker. It created a lot of good impression about actor and gained him popularity and fame. There was a competition to portray the best mill- worker. I think my ‘Boneless’ is based on bones of by-gone mill- workers which are separated from the meat and served in McDonald as ‘boneless chicken’ in ‘Phoneix Mills’ which was the only source of earning for mill- workers! Ironically, the delicacy is sold at Rs. 50 with free Coke! Are these the mill-workers who are completely wiped out from Mumbai’s scenario? If you happen to go to Phoneix Mills Compund just look at the chimney of the mill which stands high as the memory of the makers of Mumbai city or the people who gave identity to professional existence of Mumbai. You will have an illusion of it still ringing. And this would happen only if you have not yet tried to separate bone from flesh.

Now that area is residence of upper-class society and that chimney maybe the status symbol for them just like in earlier times the royal families would hand the hay filled dead wild animal’s face on wall as the pride of showing their hunting skills. Whatever it is, surely it is one of the ways to remember past. I thought like this one day there might be ‘a boneless mill’ as well, which would be addressed as Hutatma Mill.

I had not completed the painting in one go. There was a long break of a year when I did not work upon it; nothing instigated me to be drawn towards it. While I started painting it again, I meet Parbhakar Kolte Sir. Sir said something very funny yet critical. He said, “Now-a-days paintings are made like jalebis .The batter is prepared and kept overnight for fermentation and in the morning fresh and hot jalebis are fried. In evening the jalebis which become stale and not sold are thrown away. In this way today’s artists ‘prepare’ paintings and if not sold simply discard them.” And currently jalebis are sold on large scale in Delhi!

I related the above dialogue to my own paintings and thought that I have made en number of paintings in last 15 years but I have not yet thrown them away because for me they are still ‘fresh’ not yet ‘stale’ like leftover jalebis in evening. People have wrong notion,: ‘that which sells is the best.’

I have the word ‘steel’ in the tittle of this painting. I deliberated on it thinking of Subodh Gupta’s creation. It has steel utensils; symbol of kitchen ware’ food and hunger. Yes, his steel has severe hunger; hunger for Art! To rise higher, the highest It reminds of advertisement with tag line, “Have you made it large”. I am excited to see his creations. There is no much relation of my painting with his works; only for me steel represents hunger.Busy with routine life, one day suddenly world got the news of M.F’s death. M.F. passed away from this planet. At that very moment the bones in my painting seemed to be of M.F.; now calm and static! M.F.Hussain lived long innings keeping his bones fit. Maybe bones are resting in body in London. People opposing him might be waiting for his bones. There is no one who must have not thought of separating bones and flesh. This is traditionally followed and prevails even today.

( Boneless Dream of Hunger Steel Oil colour on canvas  Size : 60x84")

Bones in my painting are surely of M.F., because he was separated from his homeland like meat and bones as soon as ‘boneless’ was ordered with his reference. I feel the paintings which proved controversial were not at all ‘image spoiling’ The opposers of Hussain must have curbed sex drive for many years, so whatever they saw they conceived nudity in it. But our history proves to much modern in outlook than today.

Few months before Akbar Padamsee said,”I am Muslim but did not paint any Hindu God nude.” But Akbar does nude photography even at this age! It is one and the same thing whether you paint Goddess or a woman nude. Thankfully in my painting there is no flesh but just bones.It is not like I do not paint nude paintings; I do. But after painting this painting I realized that nudity lies in our thoughts and not the body of flesh that we see. Briefly, Hussain had to leave his country. I would stop here as the topic might get diverted from my painting and take another route.

The painting is still a mystery for me. Is there really ‘hunger’ in this painting? Once while painting this, it was mid night and mosquitoes were troubling me. While working I killed so many  of them with ‘Chinese bat’ which chaars mosquitoes even at the slightest touch. It reminded me of a film ‘Seven years in Tibet’. I felt the same atrocity of China over Tibet in which en numbers of Buddhist monks were killed. Even I was cruel with mosquitoes. At the very thought I stopped killing them.  At the very moment I saw an ant coming towards dead mosquitoes followed by many other ants racing towards their prey. Then I realized that ‘mosquitoes’ were their dinner party for night.  Did ants desire to have mosquitoes for dinner? But were they helpless because it was not possible for them to catch live mosquitoes. Was it a special treat for their ‘hunger?’ Thinking this I did not feel much bad about my act as I thought that I had become a mediator in providing them their desired food. But ‘Tibetian monks for dinner’ was for whom?  The answer is still unknown. The ants might have thanked me for the dinner and future generation of mosquitoes must have sweared to suck my blood. This is ‘the hunger’ in my steel tiffin box.

Then a final phase came when it was an apex of relating my painting to frightful reality.Once I was traveling in Mumbai local train. It was crowded and I was seating on the third seat. A family entered with wife carrying a child followed by her husband. People were making loud noise, fighting over trivial matters and like every day playing with words, when just my eyes goes on child, that child The face of a child was completely hidden and I wanted to see the face. But the face was fully covered and as it happens that we are more enthusiastic to know about the undisclosed secrets; so even I wanted t see the child’s face. Train started and suddenly there was cry of child.

The man sitting next to that mother had seen the child’s face and instantly closed his eyes. He was quiet frightened. I sensed something wrong. Another man in the compartment told to fed the crying child to which father said, he was not crying because of hunger. That child did not have eyes and ears and his bones had stopped growing. His body was not growing at all. But whenever he cried, he cried aloud. He gives proper signals when he is hungry. Hmm, so the hunger is involuntary even if the bones don’t grow. So this is the drive that everyone has. The painting has and it is the ultimate desire for which everyone lives. I did not dare to see the child after that but I salute the mother who was feeding the handicapped child. How did she dare to grow a child whose growth had stopped? The lifeless life only that breathe and hunger! Her hunger for motherhood!

Everyone has hunger. An ant hungry to have mosquitoes, China for Tibetian land, Hussain’s hunger to return to birth land, hunger of Babri Masjid to go back to Ram Mandir and Mill turning to Mall; all hunger in different ways of subject  and name of nominee.

It is hard to separate bones from flesh; when both  are born together, stick till end, they are inseparable. So also if Ram mandir is erected on ruins of Babri Masjid, then people will say, “This is the same Ram mandir which is stands on land of Babri Masjid.”

All these are the reasons for the creation of ‘Boneless dream of hunger steel.’ 

- Tathi Premchand ( Art and Deal - 2012)

ISTRI - by Prashant Hirlekar

(Artist: Prashant Hirlekar)

This story is slightly different from a verse- it’s simple and lucid. It begins with a dawn in Pawar chawl. Morning, in chawl, has its own routine and pace, with people hurriedly moving carrying canister, some lingering souls, while brushing their teeth are busy peeping in neighbor’s house to know the morning current affairs, loud fighting noise of women at the common tap competing to fill the water for household, some sly lads busy in stealing other’s newspaper, Mr. Patkar from room no.07 sending his son to stand in queue of public toilet on his behalf to so that he reaches office in time and so on.

The other day, as usual Shantabai filled water, took bath and called out her son Madhav to wake up. Madhav woke up,  twisting the body he jerked his sloth. He folded sheet, yawned and ordered his mother Shantabai, “Aai, give me tea. So, Madhav of this story, is Madhav Vasudev Joshi, the only son of late Vasudev Joshi. His education was left incomplete, he studied only till second year B.Sc, as, two years back Vasu uncle had a heart attack in office and died. Madhav got the job in his place. All his peers were jealous of him because they had completed their education and it was almost two years that they were not having proper job; and here Madhav had such a good job with incomplete education. Father’s death had graced his luck!

http://www.prashanthirlekar.blogspot.in/

Shantabai gave him tea and khari biscuits. She was very proud of Madhav as he handled lot of work in the office and his boss would shoulder him the responsibility of important assignments. Till he got his tea, Madhav engrossed himself in the newspaper and read share prices on share- market page. Recently he had started learning about share-market from Jignesh, his office colleague. He would simply read out the share prices in newspaper to people in chawl and talk about it with them. He would tell about price hike in A.C. C and drop in B. C. C. Whenever he spoke like this, Shantabai would be delighted to hear it and start thinking of getting him married soon and having daughter-in-law. And there were many people in chawl who dotted Madhav as ideal bachelor. They were keen to anchor him to be their son-in-law. One among them on the forefront was Suma, daughter of Kirkire from room no. 27. Her mother encouraged her to rope in Madhav. Suma had two more sisters. The second one of them was Chima, a complete heroine package! Surpassing her sisters, she would always be decked with make-up, lipstick, powder, flower in tresses and always humming a film song. Madhav madly adored her. He often dreamt that he and Chima have been for a movie, sat close to each other and chatted in hush- hush voice in between the crackling sound of munching wafers.  

On that critical day, Madhav was as usual reading the newspaper while sipping tea. People were busy with their routine chores and suddenly they heard loud cry of Mrs. Kirkire from room no. 27. Patekar, Naik, Madhav, Shantabai and everyone else rushed towards the room no.27. What was wrong? Had something happened to Kirkire uncle? But he was fine till yesterday!

As people gathered there, they saw Kirkire aunty sitting down with widespread legs and Kirkire uncle was sitting beside her looking distressed with forehead rested on palm and a blank look. After all, why was she crying? The detailed reason was known to whole chawl later on.

 It happened so, that Chima had eloped with Rama Chaube’s son and Rama Chaube was taken into custody by police. Rama Chaube was Istriwala- man who ironed the clothes. He had his shop in a room under the staircase of chawl. Gopi was his son, young loafer, who usually broke pot on the occasion of Dahi handi. People in the chawl were totally ignorant about his affair with Chima. But her eloping was shocking to all the people. Every person was now busy in consoling Kirkire couple. Madhav was taken aback and his throat went dry, suddenly he remembered that his boss had demanded completed statements’ file of Blue Bird Company. In a hoarse voice he told Shantabai that he was leaving for office. He put on his shoes and with a sighing heart left to go.

- Written by Jayant Bahitat  Translated by: Pankaja JK.

Feeling the Presence in Absence! Remembering Prabhakar Barwe - by Pankaja JK

Prabhakar Barwe (1936 – 1995)

“When all the paths in all the directions are closed, the only path left is that of painting and by God's grace it is always open”.- Prabhakar Barwe

The above quotation is from his book 'Kora Canvas', written in Marathi. True to his words, he lived and died as a painter. For him painting was the source of life. Indian Contemporary Art is incomplete without the mention of Prabhakar Barwe. He was an heir of artistic fervor. His granduncle V.P.Karmarkar was a famous sculptor and his father was an artist in Bombay studio. He carried forward the family tradition. To enhance his torrid artistic zeal he joined J.J.School of Art in Mumbai. During his formative years as a student, along with the formal education he got an opportunity to work in Weavers Service Centre where fine artists worked for the development of modern Indian textile design. Here he worked along with fine artists like Ambadas, Gautam Waghela and Subramanyan.

After his graduation in 1959, he experimented on canvas by placing every kind of material that could be held on canvas to vent his feelings. It was a search for individual identity as a painter. This search for self was important to discover that untrodden path which he wanted to explore in visual art.

From 1961 to 1965 he stayed and worked in Varanasi, the city rich with Hindu tradition and culture. Here he came across the tantric symbolism which grabbed his attention and inspired him. He painted skulls, bones, stones, graphs the basic objects associated with it. He thus developed Tantric style of painting. Though a firm believer in present and not worried about past or future, reading horoscope became his hobby. The pieces of writing containing astrologer's calculations and predictions, the shapes of horoscopes, the restricted lines, the scattered numbers in blocks along with sun, moon and planets, the luck and ill luck that they brought along, their transition from one block to another and beliefs of human beings in alteration of their lives depending on positioning of these elements found place on Barwe's canvas.

He belonged to the twentieth century, an era when the world was moving at the speed of light towards modernism and technological developments and where natural was replaced by material. Every vice and virtue was calculated in commercial value. He amalgamated concrete and the abstract and made us realize the co-relation of the two. He tried to give emotional touch to the impassive surrounding and developed a metaphysical dimension in his art. Barwe's experiment with glossy enamel paint diluted in turpentine enhanced the metaphysical dimension of his art. His poetic sensibility vibrated in his works. His work clearly represents ordinary objects having emotional, mystical associations. Their dictionary meaning looses its hold. The conventional definition of mundane thing gets lost. The painting becomes subjective rather than objective. To illustrate, 'the leaf', that he painted in its fresh and dried forms in various paintings, does not have limitation of being a part of plant or a tree, but represents life, the living and the dead. The 'Blue Cloud', which gained him National prize at Lalit Kala Academy's exhibition at Delhi, had a lonely cloud floating across the sky on a cloudy rainy day. This cloud can be symbolically interpreted as a cloud in William Wordsworth's famous poem Daffodis, where poet says '... I wandered lonely as a cloud…' and discovers the crowd of golden daffodils. Similarly, this lonely cloud on a cloudy day seems to be in search of something or maybe it moves around without any goal. The sentiments can be associated to the movements of a lonely person. It can be funny or sad at the same time. The perception of cloud thus is the imagination, the vision of the beholder rather than any fastidious meaning by Barwe. His proficiency in painting was with viewer's vision. He had subtle relation of concrete form with abstraction. It gave the space to the observer to perceive his paintings subjectively. He employed the conceptual devices of Surrealism, placed simple objects and ephemeral shapes presenting an unusual piece of art.

Sure of the development that would take place in art, he was open to new technologies; but always favoured  guarding individuality and freedom as an artist and never falling prey to mechanization. This is evident from the fact that in 1991 the first ever Computer- based Art was to be held in India, and the nine well- known artists M.F.Hussain, Navjot Altaf, Akbar Padamsee, Manjit Bawa, Prabhakar Barwe, Laxman Shreshtha, Manu Parekh and S.H. Raza were invited for thirty days training course on computer to develop their artwork for a show. When the show traveled to Delhi in February 1993 and held at NGMA, there was an informal discussion with critic Kamla Kapoor. The conversation reflected the views and experiences of Barwe on use of computer technology in art. He welcomed the advancement in art which gave larger scope to artists to express themselves. Reckoning its pros and cons, he alerted artists that it should not be used at the cost of their creative freedom. Barwe expressed his apprehension of being dragged and lost in the vast world of colors, texture and image manipulation that computer offered. So talking about himself he said that he was apprehensive of losing his creative freedom so he decided to restrict himself to two dimensional and graphic possibilities. Due to these technological liberties and scope the Pop Art Movement launched the banal objects of our everyday lives into the realm of fine art. Prabakhar Barwe showed his skill in creating intimacy between these objects and life.

Evidently, his interest in astrological calculation and speculations reflected in his last creations. The possibilities are strong as we take into consideration his last exhibition when he was hospitalized. The exhibition was held at Chemould Art Gallery in the year 1995. It was a group show called 'A Broder Spectrum-II', which had Barwe's five water color paintings painted a few months before he was hospitalized. The images were that of garland of dried leaves, a wrist watch, human skull, envelopes, and a scale were suggestive of his nearing death and projected his sentience of death.

As a painter he won an award instituted by the Japanese newspaper Yoshihari Shimbun. In 1976 he won an award at the annual exhibition of the Lalit Kala Akademi. Towards the end of his life he wrote a book in Marathi called 'Kora (Blank) Canvas', which is the documentation of his feelings, expressions, struggles and satisfaction as an artist.

Truly, a great artist who taught us to be sensitive, to perceive beyond physical appearance, put breath in inanimate things and made us think beyond set meanings.

153 Years Old yet Young at Heart: Mumbai's Sir JJ School of Art

The trance aura at another corner, the liveliness and argumentative atmosphere at one corner and faces that are lost in their own world of creativity hurrying to put their thoughts on canvas, sculpt it or express it through various means like installations or other medias.

Sir JJ School of Art bustles with liveliness and youthful enthusiasm day in and day out. It has miraculous effect and it charms you so much that you get attracted to its buzzing activities in one corner

One of the oldest institutions, Sir JJ School of Art is located in city of Mumbai. It was founded in March 1857 named after Sir Jamsatjee Jeejeboy who donated 100, 000 rupees for its endowment. It is beautiful with vast campus full of foliage, age old trees and neo -gothic architecture, heritage buildings standing strong with the modern architecture, and the grand interiors with artistic setup at every nook and corner. Other than this treasure it has the tradition of having the best Indian creative minds who have stirred the world with their creations. 

The legacy of legends trained at this institute continues till date with modern contemporary artists graduating from this institute. Many contemporary artists have experienced living under the British colonial rule as well as living in the post colonial period. Charles Gerard the Director of Sir JJ School of Art introduced modernistic concept in academics and thus these artists were influenced by western art. Alumni of JJ School of Art include Akbar Padamsee, Jatin Das, MF Husain, SH Raza, VS Gaitonde, FN Souza, Tyeb Mehta, Krishna Hebbar, Satish Gujral, Jehangir Sabavala and many more. 

VS Gaitonde

The legends have a very interesting creative journey. It is a matter of fact that every artist is affected by the prevailing social, economic and political conditions of the period that he lives in, so was the case with these artists. During the British period these artists, then the students were academically exposed to western art. But the nationalist fervor was ignited in them when FN Souza established Bombay Progressive Artists' group immediately after Independence. This group had short life but was successful in giving new direction to expression of visual art. The prominent artists of this group included MF Husain, SH Raza, Manishi Dey were the early members later SK Bakre, Akbar Padamsee, Tyeb Mehta associated with the group. Later VS Gaitonde, Krishen Khanna and Mohan Samant joined the group. The Progressive Artists' Group combined Indian subject matter with Post-Impressionist colors, Cubist forms and brusque, Expressionistic styles. 

Mumbai is fortunate to have some of the living legends staying here who experienced colonial atmosphere or were students of this institute in early years of Independence. To name the few who live and work in Mumbai are Akbar Padamsee, Jehangir Sabaval, Dilip Ranade, Prabhakar Kolte. A star who has a strong hold over his passion of art and is a master in expressing his creativity through various mediums is Akbar Padamsee. His work ranges from the figurative to the non- figurative. Right from painting on canvas he has adopted technology of photography and digital painting. He has diversified his skill in different branches like film making, being an art critique and as a sculpture artist. His metascapes, mirror- images and sculptures are magnetic. Like other senior artists, he too, was a part of two different phases in India ie before and after Independence. Whether it is a sketch on paper or a sculpture, human head and human figure and expression of human instincts is his preferred subject. He portrays common man and his reaction to the surrounding aura. His metascapes which are basically landscapes. In his metascapes the landscapes are devoid of any natural elements and they are just metaphysical experiences of time and space. The computer graphics that he worked on is the further extension of the same effect. His colonial and post- colonial experiences were exhibited in recent years in the exhibitions held in India and abroad. 

His recent group exhibitions include 'Progressive to Altermodern: 62 Years of Indian Modern Art' at Grosvenor Gallery, London, in 2009; 'Faces' at Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, and 'Freedom 2008 Sixty Years of Indian Independence' at the Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata in 2008. He is meticulous, ever energetic and enthusiastic thinker. Mumbai also takes pride is having a Padma Shri awarded great artist who lives in Mumbai and he is Jehangir Sabavala. His work has most features of city; though not necessarily Mumbai, it includes landscapes, cityscapes and seascapes. His modernistic and classical unity in his paintings has been a challenge even to the artists born in modern age. He prefers disguised images to loud and flashy projections. His mastery over light, color and texture is the result of his vision. He attributes his style of painting to his academic training and it is an amalgamation of Cubism and Impressionism. 

( Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy)

There is a kind of serene and tranquil feeling when we look at his paintings. There is intensity and universal feeling exhibited in his works which is thus devoid of any territorial boundaries. Dilip Ranade focuses on static form of life when he presents fossilized sculptures. He focuses on human instincts which includes struggle between good and evil and man's survival instincts. His non-human forms of life such as animals, plants and other living organisms are representation of human characters. Ironically his paintings are pleasing yet thought stirring. Prabhakar Kolte was a student and also taught there for about two decades. He is much influenced by VS Gaitonde and Paul Klee. His paintings have formless sensation and are without any symbolism or pre defined boundaries. For him his paintings are just rush of feelings that just gets its color and form on canvas. It is simply the action and not the reaction. 

To sum up, it is a matter of great pride that all these great artists of JJ School of Art are renowned and have become icons of how to cope with prevailing conditions, developing their own styles, being perfectionists, and adopting advanced practices in art thereby spreading the fame of Indian contemporary art around the world.

- By Pankaja JK

(above Images for illustrative purposes only, we have no copyright)

Stimulating Thoughts Pankaja JK in conversation with Chintan Upadhyay - interview.

Pankaja JK in conversation with Chintan Upadhyay 

(Artist :Chithan Upadhaya)

 

Disturbing Chintan Upadhyay in his busy schedule and ultimately getting an interview was a kind of annexing a difficult citadel. But here it was not my efforts but his kindness and friendly gesture helped me to get his interview for “Art : News & Views” magazine. This short and precise conversation shows his stronghold over his beliefs and sensitivity towards everything that he confronts in his life, be it human relation, technology or nature. The following conversation highlights it: 

PK: As your name goes 'Chintan' you are really so concerned with the social causes. Are you 'an artist for social cause'? 

CU: I would say that directly or indirectly every artist is in one way or the other related to social cause. They are concerned with the social issues. And even I feel sensitivity towards some issues and express my feelings against them in my art. 

PK: Your creations, or say, installations are based on practical aspects of life rather than just giving an artistic pleasure. Do you enjoy this status of being a thoughtful artist and not purely an artist portraying romanticism with life? 

CU: I am a thoughtful artist. People cannot say that an art is created purely for artistic pleasure. Art is not a creation in isolation, it has got some stimuli, some subject. So it extends beyond just artistic pleasure. 

PK: Your 'Alec Babies' created wonder and stir in art world. How did this idea strike you and was there any particular reason to paint them with miniature paintings? 

CU: If you look at these babies you will find them homogeneous. So they represent homogeneous concerns. But the only thing that differentiates them is the Indian miniature paintings on them. Without these paintings they would be nowhere. In fact these paintings are their identity. I have chosen it deliberately. If we look at the modern trend of the world, we find everywhere in the world people are developing similar tastes in terms of clothing, food and lifestyle. There is a development of mall culture, famous brands which are widely available, so there is a kind of analogous behaviour throughout the world. So when one tries to move out of this identical zone, he searches for ethnicity. This ethnicity is an attraction. Alec babies portray this ethnicity, they stand out as Indian and therefore they stand out from others. 

PK: Your installations have been developed as factory products and also developed with the use of native skill. Do you find any difference between the use of technology and handcrafted installations? 

CU: Technology works as a tool for me. I use it as a medium to develop my images. Traditional knowledge that I amalgamate provides me with information. They give me new ideas. But it is not always necessary that I adopt these ideas and work upon my original thoughts. But at times I do think over them. 

PK: Were you always inclined to be an artist? Has any artist influenced you? 

CU: No, I never wanted to be an artist. In fact, I wanted to be an architect. But I think being in any of these fields involves creativity. So my creative urges are satisfied as an artist. Speaking about influences, I have many. I cannot name anyone in particular. My influences range from people of art world to a layman. My thinking process is influenced by the situation around, the nature, the technology and almost everything. 

PK: How do you analyse it? 

CU: You see, everything around you is changing. Take an example of Bollywood; the outfits and the dance have got under western influence. After the Chinese product have taken hold over our market we find even a common man has started believing and getting attracted towards Feng Shui along with the Vastu Shastra. And all these things do influence my creative process. A man has to be thoughtful and when we start thinking, we start creating. Now we all know about Obama's visit to India, its purpose and its outcome. Still, as an artist I think over it. My thinking may be different from others, and in the same way hundred minds may think in hundred different ways. That's good for progress. And it is personally good for me as an artist, for it acts indirectly or unknowingly as a metaphor in my work. 

PK:  Can we have a peep in the lighter mood of Chintan Upadhyay? Do you remember any humorous moment in relation to your artistic progression which has made a mark on you? 

CU: I love partying! I hail from Rajasthan which is a very colourful city, and so I love colors. The thing that I find very humorous is when people ask me to stop making 'babies'. People always look out for sensation and they have a kind of consumer mentality where they constantly look for 'latest' or change. They develop boredom when they see same thing for longer time. They expect me to give them some thing different from these Alec babies and that makes me laugh and feel sad towards their way of thinking. These Alec babies are not just products; they are the thoughts, expression and feelings. Don't have a surface view, understand the depth of it. Of course, I don't want to force anybody to admire it. But when they ask me to stop producing these babies I feel sorry for them. They seem to ironically conflict their own thought process. I doubt their admiration for art. Basically I am a provocative artist. I like to provoke people. If they show mediocre attitude and feel dejected if I do not stop producing these babies, then I think I have provoked them and by repeatedly boosting on stopping to produce them, they are provoking me. But my art is not based on someone's guidance about what I should be doing. It's totally my world and my creation…whether you like it or not… 

PK: Your artistic journey is filled with social causes, awareness and rebellion against male chauvinism. Do you intend to write an autobiography in future? 
CU: Oh! I am not a biography material. I cannot write about myself. Though I like to read autobiographies, I might not do justice while penning my life (smiles…signs off).