Why We Need to Go Back to Our Studios? Coz the Institutions are Fooling Artists with Nonsense

Can a laptop and project writing replace studio practice? If yes, we need not look elsewhere for embodied foolishness says Johny ML in this Editorial.

A lap top, a plug point, a few search windows, a Microsoft word page and a tremendous amount of confidence to translate confusion into a legible thousand word aspiration, with a couple of referees to give patronising recommendation letters- that’s how these days a young contemporary artist works. His/her studio is a foldable and packable one. Each one among this new breed of artists believes that art could happen in writing projects and getting funds; if lucky enough, by spending three to six months in a foreign country, hopelessly lost and troubled. When the art market boom was almost over and the galleries and funding agencies once again got onto the confused paths to nowhere, they all started telling the artists to route their art via some foreign institutions; the more residency abroad, the better the chance to find some place in the Indian galleries.

Be it global ecological depletion or be it the impact of migration in the global economy our artists are ready to create art based on all these topics. ‘They fund therefore I am’ that is the new Descartes take of so many young artists in our country. Shielded by thick skin, protected by ignorance and supported by xeno-maniacs who imagine that anything that comes via abroad and endorsed by white skinned curators, gallerists, dealers and promoters, these artists keep writing projects and applying for funds. Some are lucky to befool the funders (they are not really fooled, but they willingly suspend their disbelief for some poetic justice) and go abroad. Some are very clever who write projects according to the nature of funding. I have seen artists trying to write projects for something related to Jewish history- they are damn rich, they say. I have seen artists making their silly videos and installations so complex that the funder is finally forced to meet the expenses of these artists’ travel and accommodation. Some institutes that teach art tell their students only ideate; that means, they basically teach them how to write applications for funds.

Pablo Picasso in his studio

That means we are basically a bunch of beggars asking for help so that we could impress them with their hands down aesthetics. This scenario also means that as a self deceptive society of artists, we have lost our studio practices. Most of our young artists have forgotten the fact that better art could happen when an artist is in his/her studio. Studio is a place where artists often go to or come back to ideate and practice. Studio practice does not mean that the artist should only sit there and work with whichever medium he/she prefers. Studio is a place where one fine tunes one’s creative process. Movement of the artists from guilds and workshops to studios was a great change in the history of modern art. An artist became modern therefore individualistic with the advent of the idea of studio practice. In his/her studio, an artist assumes the power of God and is never a servant of the master. Studio is also a crucible where the artists’ friends could come in for a cup of tea and have some good conversations. Studio is a window or a frame to understand the external world clearly. That does not mean that an artist needs to be studio bound always. He/she could work from nature; they could travel anywhere in the world. But studio is a place where they bring the world into a graspable reality, on their own terms.

Making a studio was a prime concern of most of the artists during the modern period. For their photographer friends, registering the moments of the artists’ creative frenzy was a major aesthetical achievement. Studios were dingy as a single room as in the case of Vincent Van Gogh or palatial like those of Picasso and Salvador Dali. Narrating the life and works of the artists from within the studios was a part of the modern art historiography. It was difficult for most of the Indian artists to run their own studios during the 20th century. However, we see how they maintained a studio practice; right from Raja Ravi Varma to M.F.Husain. One good thing that happened during the ten years of market boom in Indian contemporary art was that the riches that came along enabled most of the young artists of that time to establish their own studios with moderate as well as state of the art facilities. Today, whether there is market or no market for the artist, most of them work from their studios and they hold these spaces closer to heart.

The confusion that followed the collapse of the art market, as I mentioned before, sent the new entrants into tipsy. The global art market suddenly turned its attention to alternative practices in order to contain any kind of radicalism that would thwart the fundamental principles of the market; demand-supply-profit. Conceptual art became a darling of the western galleries and museums. While the established one ideated from their ‘studios’, the new entrants who did not feel the need for establishing their studio practices started moving around with their lap tops and half baked ideas. Their confusion was worsened by several prime institutions including the JNU Arts and Aesthetics Department that functioned as a distant back office for private museums, art fairs and alternative art establishments. Such establishments have done a great wrong to the young artists in our country by making them believe in ad hoc studio practice by presenting the very making of art as ‘process (of) art’ in makeshift studios or even presenting such studios in the galleries as ‘exhibition projects’.

Salvador Dali in his studio

Was it for transparency or was it just for the heck of being different? I have talked to a lot of artists about their studios and all of them have agreed to the fact that the lack of studio has infused a tremendous amount of ad hoc-ism in their practices. They have been reduced into project writers and fund seekers. Those establishments that support this practice actually once again bring back the ideology of Lord Macaulay who implemented an educational system meant for producing ‘Indian looking and British thinking’ Babus. With no studio practice to hone their skills and further their ideas our young artists have already become the wandering diplomats of the west’s left over aesthetics. We need to resist it by re-establishing our studio practices. Return to studio means return to skill and craft along with creative conceptual thinking. West is tired of its own art and it has already started looking for ethnic art forms (that’s why this sudden interest for tribal and folk art in India shores). Only our studio practice could bring about a new aesthetic. The futuristic and sustainable art practices are to be birthed from Indian art studios and we should be able to define the ‘new global’ art for the world. It does not have anything to do with ‘make in India’ or ‘Make India First’ or anything of that sort. There is no political arm twisting in my exhortation but rather a straight demand for waking up. Though we could say that ‘studio is where artist is’, a lap top, a plug point and ignorance as strength can never be a replacement for the studio practice.

 May 17, 2016 in Editorial Originally published as an editorial in Art Tehelka

Painter Dr. Nalini Bhagwat remembers late A. A. Raiba- Pankaja JK

Artist Dr. Nalini Bhagwat remembers painter A. A. Raiba as a painter of varied expressions. While discussing about Raiba after a few days of his demise, she shared her memory of personally meeting him a few years back. She had conducted his interviews which were published in newspapers. She showed one of the published interview in the Marathi newspaper Lokasatta. I requested her to let me edit, translate and publish it as our heartfelt tribute to the great artist. Dr. Nalini readily agreed and gave me the briefed article that is substantial to know the life of Raiba which was initially full of struggle for living and self-identity, his unicity and his achievements as an artist.

Artist Dr. Nalini Bhagwat(Image Google /youtube)

    

Raiba had confessed that before being an artist, he was a proud Indian. He was grateful to his homeland for nurturing him and his art. He never desired to leave India and settle in any other part of the world. Living in poverty, he completed his studies with lot of difficulty but his passion for art and painting was undeterred by these conditions. He wanted to pursue education in Art from the Sir J. J. School of Art, but couldn’t afford the fees. His problem was solved by Fazalbhai Trust Scholarship. 

His paintings were so impressive that he was admitted directly in third year painting class. Raiba had the opportunity to work in guidance of Jaggannath Ahivasi and he developed liking for miniature painting. During this time he also got 20 rupees scholarship! This scholarship may seem so less to us, but back then it was a big amount for Raiba because he was so poor that he was not even in position to bring wholesome tiffin to college, so he did not mix up with other students. He would buy Indian gram flour noodles (gathiya), go to nearby masjid and eat with the dry bread (chapaties) that he carried to the college. He never regretted this kind of lifestyle, and never felt ashamed in his future life to tell the truth because poverty did not hamper his passion for painting. He concentrated only on his paintings and was determined to make his work more and more effective. His passion paid off so well, that he passed with flying colours in 1946 and Principal Gerard offered him the Fellowship. 

While in the Sir J.J. School of Art, he never missed the opportunity to visit various places and paint his experiences there. These paintings based on the real life experiences were liked by people. To name a few: ‘Forgotten Gothic Cathedral’ painted after his visit to Calicut and Pondicherry, ‘Ruins of Aundha fort’ were his Goa’s memories, remembering Sikkim- Bhutan and Nepal he painted ‘No man’s land’. In1948 he received bronze medal from Bombay Art Society for the painting ‘Shringar’. The following year he received silver medal for ‘Glory of India’. In1950 he got an opportunity to visit Kochi and based on his experiences at Kochi he painted ‘Lullaby’, which again fetched him a bronze medal. 

A A Raiba / facebook: Najeeb Raiba

From 1940 onwards, with the help of Art Director of newspaper group ‘Times’ Raiba’s paintings were published in ‘Illustrated Weekly’.  Observing his passionate work from 1940 to 1950, the then art critic Rudi Wan Lyndon, proposed to include him in ‘Progressive Group’. Raiba joined the group, but as a matter of fact, his thought process was completely different from the other members of the group. In1956 he participated in ‘Progressive Artists’ Group’ exhibition, but his paintings were totally of Indian style and there was no rebellious and distorted theme in it. Newton D’Souza who was the Founding member of the Group, was his classmate in the Sir J. J. School of Art and was also the member of the Progressive Group. But Raiba did not remain in the group for long and soon he resigned from the group. In 1955 he exhibited his paintings based on Kochi’s experiences, at Delhi. The painting ‘Cochin Fishermen’ is presently in museum at Nagpur. Another painting ‘Green Lagoon’ fetched him Gold medal from the Bombay Art Society and he got lot of recognition. 

Raiba’s sketching was very impressive. He also had his own style of painting. Impressed by it, Souza invited him for commissioned work of painting Ashoka hotel in Delhi. The work was completed with the help of three to four more painters. The money was equally distributed among them. After giving some amount to his siblings, Raiba spent the remaining amount to fulfil his wish of visiting Kashmir to experience its vast beauty. He stayed there for three years from 1957-1959, but during this period he saw the pathetic condition of people over there. He could sense the dissatisfaction and sadness of people to such an extent that he did not feel like painting beautiful miniatures. He felt the need to show the pathos of these people in his paintings. Maybe, here his experience of Progressive Group must have helped him. He used charcoal and white colour and without minute detailing painted deformed paintings. Not a single painting of this series was sold, but Lord Harrison’s aged wife appreciated the paintings. While painting landscape at Nagina Garden, in Kashmir painter Bendre happened to come there. He saw the painting and appreciated it a lot. After two year when Raiba sent it to annual exhibition of Lalit Kala Academy, in 1961, he won National Award for it. After this year, he flourished as an artist. In 1963 he participated in exhibitions at Egypt, Rio de Janerio and Paris. ‘Genealogical tree’ and ‘The King and the Queen are dead’ were his most sorted paintings of that period.After coming back from Kashmir, Raiba developed interest in Occult science. He studied the subject and we find there after he had developed too much realistic style in his paintings. The mysterious aura was projected by mixing colours.  

Mumbai 1945 / image Wiki media

From the year 1945 till 1965 there were many dramatic changes seen in his paintings. He had realised that the external appearance of the person and the inner self are totally different. He noted this difference. He painted self- portrait in which he showed the mask of his happy face displaced a little and under that was a sad, gloomy face. He presented this painting to Langhammer, which may now be with Keku Gandhi. While going back to Europe Mrs. Langhammer gave the painting to Keku Gandhi, requesting the assurance from him that the said painting would be given in charge of the National Museum that was supposed to be built in Mumbai. 

Human figures were prominent in his paintings. ‘Barahmaas’, nine painting series ‘Nav-ratna’ and ‘The other side of moon’ were prominently human figure paintings. 

Raiba’s style got a different angle (nature painting) with exhibition based on experiences of Vasai. The exhibition was a big hit. All the paintings were sold. So, this was a major phase of change in style and movement towards nature painting. 

After 1983 there was yet another revolutionary change in his style of paintings and that was in the material that he used for painting. During this period he experimented with glass painting and enamel painting and gave layer effect on one of the part of glass. Cry Foundation used this artwork for their greeting cards. In1985 he set glasses in such a way that enamel on every part of the glass projected as one whole painting the layers of glasses produced single plain effect.  Raiba also worked on canvas. He painted cityscapes with the top view, capturing the houses, roads, sunrise and sunset. He painted these like miniature painting instead of filling colours that gave photographic effect. The plain strokes like calligraphy was the USP of Raiba.    

Raiba’s contribution to Indian Art is praiseworthy. He left this world on April 15, 2016 but will always remain alive in our hearts, because Artist never dies!

Photojournalist entrancing precarious world. The recipient of highest civilian honour Padma Shri 2016 - Pankaja JK

Sudharak Olwe is a Mumbai-based photojournalist since 1988 and has worked as a press photographer with some of the leading newspapers in India. He is presently the Photo Editor of the country's largest read Marathi Newspaper, Lokmat.

His manual efforts to capture the disparity in the society, ambiguity of identity as scavenger (literally picking and cleaning garbage, forcing them to adapt to unhygienic conditions of living or playing a literally physical host to clear away the lust) or a simple identity of being a human being, has been recognised as a voice of downtrodden, dissed, maltreated communities from all over India, has fetched him highest civilian honour ‘Padma Shri’ of 2016.

 Sudharak Olwe, receiving his more than well-deserved Padma Shri from the President in Rashtrapati Bhawan

(Photo : Delhi Photo Festival/ facebook )

Personally I feel applauding only for prestigious civilian honour Padma Shri is not an enough appreciation. I heartily appreciate his passionate guts to venture and probe into the lives which are completely ignored and neglected and remembers by us for mean intensions only. He has made an attempt to bring their life stories in front of the society by personally interacting with them, visiting their dull, dingy rooms called home, hearing the bitter sweet survival attempts in those pathetic conditions all the while capturing their physical living conditions, emotional outburst and pitiful survival instinct.   Because of his visual and textual records many sensitive hearts are bound to become empathetic. Truly, his photography is empathetic in nature. Otherwise, the only time when we remember these people are when their absence leaves our surrounding filled with rotting smell and garbage heaps around, the time when the physical desire escalates to be a lust, to slake off this desire people hunt the lanes of these maltreated ‘human beings’. 

There is always a reason behind every action that we take. So also SudharakOlwe recalls his days on the streets of Hyderabad when he had ran away from his home in Mumbai. The poverty and hardships that he saw and experienced among the roadside dwellers made him understand and probe into the lives and feelings. His personal experience worked wonders than his educational qualification and today he has established himself as a voice of ignored and belittled ones.

Photo : Sudharak Owle 

His works also include the life stories of people from rural areas who are downtrodden, poverty stricken, completely under the sway of orthodoxy and yet in some areas of India people are coming out of their conventional beliefs.

Presently along with being the Photo Editor of newspaper Lokmat, he heads the Photography promotion Trust, which aims to spread the knowledge of photography in young adults not only in urban areas but in the rural side too. He has a Diploma in Photography from the Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art (1986), Mumbai and also a Diploma in Film and Video Production (1992) from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.

Heartiest thanks to Shri. Sudharak Owle to bring into limelight the lives living in dark and Congratulations for the recognition of your work! 

By Pankaja JK (Art Blogazine.com)

PIN POSTER : Gallery of the NGMA (Mumbai)

N.G.M.A. Mumbai is organizing an exhibition " A. A. Almelkar : Inspiration & Impact". It is a prestigious exhibition of N.G.M.A.'s own collection for the first time.

A. A. Almelkar was significant artist of post Independent period who was inspired with the concept of Indianness in the modern Indian art. He was recipient of more then 20 Gold and Silver medals and had 44 exhibitions in India and South East Asia. Come and experience his unique expressions on India's Rural and Tribal life, enjoy the creation of this great but forgotten Master.

Warm Regards

Suhas Bahulkar

Curator & Chair Person - N.G.M.A.- Mumbai