Story from McLeod Ganj / GNOSIS - 2018 at Jehangir Art Gallery, Open at 11th Dec 2018

Does Buddhism and creativity have anything in common? May be, Yes. Buddhism is all about exploring self and attaining the power of mind over body, self realization and self- control. Creativity adopts or follows some methods of Buddhism, where in creator becomes meditative as he goes in creating and concentrating on exploring the depth of theme, thus, gaining a meditative hold over the physical appearance of the painting. Both, Buddhism and Creativity, cultivate our real and cryptic nature.

There is rise of ‘Consciousness’ in both. Meditation is not an easy process and when you sit to meditate you have more diversions of thought than ever before; there is not a single moment when you feel stable at soul. It is probing into unpredictable nature. Creativity follows same ebb of finding stability amongst chaos and move with the tranquil flow.

Artist Umakant has been working on the concepts and figures of the Buddha since last many years. Gnosis/ Bhikus is one further step in his creation of thought involving Buddha and Buddhism. . Here he directly paints the representatives of the Buddha- the Monks. Along with Dalai Lama, there are novice monks. We find that these novice monks’ expressions are not serene and meditative but seem to be at the infantile stage of becoming Monks, they have childish innocence on their face. They are allowed to explore their physical world and with the aid of Buddhist preaching they slowly develop self awareness.

Process of creativity is like these novice monks, a process of becoming self aware and breaking free from of influence from others. Without imposing grueling knowledge and letting them be of their age; this natural way of growing and side-by-side acquiring knowledge in a systematic way would turn them into serene and self-controlled Monks.

To show this initial stage of proceeding to be a true monks, Umakant has made use of colorful background and not as expected of Buddhism (and taken for granted) the association of the subtle shades. The innocence and radiance of novice monks is reverberated in these colors. These photographic style representations have characteristic colorful abstract backgrounds, devoid of figurative, mysterious mist.  

Lastly, not to ignore the painting of The Dalai Lama who displays courage and humility. Like him artist should also have both. Courage to discard all that which is troublesome and hurdle in finding inner vision. Humility, a spiritual nature to accept criticism without disquiet and gain highest level of spirituality.  

These paintings are unique in the sense that the images are well-known but they are metaphoric representation of real creativity and shows us that path to spiritual growth; be it by following Buddhism as by Buddhist monks or by being creative person. The path is difficult and main hurdle is mind and soul and development of self awareness. Self awareness by Monks or by artist, would surely lead to spiritual upliftment. The show is worth watching as imparting knowledge through visual means.

- by Pankaja JK 

2016

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Zara

Hemant Morparia

9 November · 

 

here is my take on tree-killing by zara. share widely for possible effect

Jehangir Art Gallery : 13th Nov 2018

Behold the Honeycomb by Likla Lall

Behold the Honeycomb; Nature’s flawless design. Each hexagon is impeccable in itself, and at the same time, a part of something grander. Look closer and you will see that within each perfect cell there is a unique world buzzing with a life of its own.

Sudhir Patwardhan at Honeycomb group show Jehangir Art Gallery

Here you see Santosh Kalbande at work. He is holding a matchstick; to him this matchstick is the basis of all representation. He plants his matchstick in ply and out blossoms an artistic symbolism of the male and the female. Form and geometric shape are born from this artistic union in a repetition that inspires, in the viewer, a meditative state of mind.

And here sits another Nilesh Shilkar within his honeyed cell, equally obsessed with cells and mutation. Liberated by minimalism, he punctures the paper carefully with Braille-like pinpricks of three-dimensional form, in an exploration of the very evolution of the Universe.

Over here is Vinita Dasgupta, an artist who looks at life like pieces of a puzzle. Each colour, texture and shape takes hold of her imagination. Memory, feelings and impressions come together in careful folds and create layer after layer of untold stories. You may have seen and admired her works over the last six years at the Indian Art Fair in Delhi, but this year she promises something new.

Kumar Ranjan is a man that misses home. He now lives in a city that seems intent on suffocating him. Every now and then, he escapes into the clear blue skies and green jungles of his ancestors. The memory stays with him, and in bold strokes he captures them on jute canvas.

Now consider these two artists, Srabani Sarkar and a Tushar Potdar, each peering closely at the world around them. She watches the socio-economic currents that rush past her, and finds meaning in woodcut, printing powerful and undeniable images. He takes the everyday object and turns them into something extraordinary upon his canvas. And here are two that know the importance of blank spaces. 

Raj Bhandare from Goa

While Raj Bhandare transforms scrap metal into something spiritual in experiments that involve the wilful immersion of beautifully crafted four by four feet metal-works in the ocean for three months, Vishal Pawar proves dexterous with his use of charcoal; but both know the depth that lies between two lines.

And finally, here is Tathi Premchand, the man who brought them all together. His obsession with variation transcended his art and clambered into his role as Artist & curator. He looked at each cell and saw the soul within. He displays a special collection of thirty works created over a period of ten years created more than ten thousand drawings.

Here is Honeycomb, a glimpse into the ever changing retro-scope of the lives of nine artists. Enjoy the art works of Tathi Premchand, Raj Bhandare, Santosh Kalbande, Nilesh Shilkar, Vinita Dasgupta, Srabani Sarkar, Kumar Ranjan, Tushar Potdar and Vishal Pawar as they travel through the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Goa, Ratnagiri and more.

by Likla Lall

Art Writer & Researcher 2018/Mumbai 

HONEYCOMB
MUMBAI +DELHI + KOLKATA + GOA + RATANAGIRI
GROUP SHOW

You are invited for the grand opening of HONYCOMB, A group show by 9 Artists at Jehangir Art Gallery,

Tathi Premchand I Raj Bhandare I Santosh Kalbande I Nilesh Shilkar I Vinita Dasgupta I
Srabani Sarkar I Kumar Ranjan I Tushar Potdar I Vishal Pawar

13th November 2018 : Exhibition open at 4pm on
Exhibition Date : 13th to 19th November 2018 Time: 11am to 7pm

Jehangir Art Gallery Auditorium Hall
161B, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001, India.