Yusuf
In a well defined space structure, lines are spread out in rhythmic frequencies. They meet, accumulate and multiply. There are small regions and vast territories, motion and stillness, there are energetic centers, tension and release. Space is invested, charged with organic forces, following mysterious laws. Through a linear language of which he has acquired mastery, Yusuf reveals his essential preoccupation: lines in space. He starts with the simplest strategies of horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines, to build up pictorial situations of great complexities and sophistication. An intuitive perception of geometric-dynamics and acute form sensibility lead him to the higher structures of human awareness. Here is a painter’s vision of great authenticity, with origins deep-rooted in different facets of Indian thought. The long and discreet research of Yusuf reveals an original expression of rare sensibility. His paintings should be seen in silent meditation, without prejudice or preconceived notions, for sheer joy and exaltation.
S.H. RAZA,
Paris 21st Nov. 1988
Kashinath Salve
The mastery of Kashinath Salve in the art field is beyond question. For 42 years, from 1968 to 2010, Kashinath has excelled as a visual artist, yet unspotted by art connoisseurs of the industry. In his early years Kashinath taught nuances of art to students who are today big names in their own rights. The very well-known Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai parted with this committed and determined Professor in 2001 when he retired as the Head of Drawing and Painting Department. But his enthusiasm and determination does not bring to a close his journey as a compulsive innovator. He explored nature from close quarters at different times of the day, in different seasons, and at different places. His promotions and work commitments gave him a chance to travel to Nagpur which proved to be an inspiration behind his early landscapes. But he also dabbed in portraiture and figurative works.
Awadhesh Mishra
Canvas of Awadhesh Misra…a radiant space of throbbing past…past as memories...memories as lines, intertwined forms and vagrant colours of nasty patches, hasty brush strokes… surpassing the canvas and touching to the helm of his mind, heart and artist beneath. The whole thrusts of expression of his own ‘Village-Psyche’ finds the vent of a satirical form of ‘Vizooka’ (Scare Crow) to which the farmers install in their fields to protect their crop from birds. In this Vizooka series the satire aspires a bitter and blunt note against corruption in public life, usurping attitude rampant in man and fall from heightened values of politics, justice and governance. Not only this, but the suppressed expressions of a constituted city life, where this man is chewed up under the mincing teeth of urban-haste which is a new definition of culture. In the sense his throbbing compositions catch the hollowness of time. With this Vizooka series Awadhesh has assigned a new dictum of abstraction to the abstract itself. Beneath the satirical undertones he silently touches the strings of village culture and suddenly the lost harmony of nature fills our hearts. The master of artistic translucence of hue and lines, Awadhesh intricately creates a unique world of expressive uneasiness and the blasphemy of the systems.
Parvez Ahmed
He is one of the senior most artists figuring in this exhibition. A great connoisseur of Art Parvez has been appreciated a number of times by no less than a person than Syed Hyder Raza. A pioneer artist, one who is absolutely in control of his media, Parvez Ahmed oozes pure poetry through his mastery over the canvas. Raza Sahab introduces Parvez as a pure classical singer of Art. That is true. But to any discerning viewer, Parvez’s paintings are invocations to the celebration of life through colours. A five year old boy who had not started speaking fully was asked by his teacher to colour a graphic sketch of a peacock in the class among all other pupils. But this boy coloured the peacock entirely in black. He did the same thing to the butterfly too. The teacher was puzzled by this affinity of the boy with black colour. A counsel was called in for help. She interpreted that there must be something sad about this boy. The school was advised to make the life of this Boy in the school more lively and cheerful. Hence attempts were made to make the little boy happy and cheerful by letting the boy do what he liked to do. Soon the boy forgot the black colour and started filling his art book with myriad of colours. Parvez’s canvas invokes such pure and innocent invocations of the heart in such a manner that one is involved with his painting in heart and soul.
Swaroop Biswas
Art for Swaroop Biswas is ‘almost a parallel life’. This is not a punch line but a paraphrase of Swaroop’s journey so far in the field of Art. Swaroop who did his graduation in Fine Arts from GCA, Lucknow has come a long way in this journey in his pursuit of expressing his deep emotions in the Art form. A journey, which he calls ‘rollercoaster’. Swaroop is a keen observer of the life as it happens, transforms and manifests around him and all of us in our day-to-day existence. Even though he himself denies the beauty of his creations, his pieces immediately draw the attention of the viewer. His use of vivid colours that are not challenging to our perceptions is very clever. It may be unintentional but is so obvious that that once you are placed before his painting you are then transformed into a discourse with the painting. The simplicity of the imagery used by Swaroop is also another charming aspect about his art. Step by step you enter into his world and the world of his creation and his painting enters into your mind and you start uncovering the wonderful different facets laid out by him in his art. This process becomes so beautifully indulgent that the impressions never leave your senses even after you have left the scene. He registers his thoughts in your mind. And he makes it a point that they do, such is the lasting impression about his art.
Amit Soni
Rocks and stones have always caught Amit’s attention and he always felt attracted towards them, so naturally in his paintings and prints these images find an expression. These stones when they lie on the way are passed unnoticed by many as lifeless objects of nature but his sensitivity finds life and vitality in them. His paintings and prints unfold this phenomenon of nature.
Anand Vaishnav
Since he is born and brought up in Chhattisgarh in a rural culture, he is highly influenced by the uncorrupted surroundings of his native place which reflects in his works. He paints the activities which are in daily routine trying to experience them in my expressions on canvas. Each happening around him gives a new idea to paint something unimaginable but close to every eye.
Archana Yadav
For her painting is a very internal and personal. It’s a communication by the medium of emotions that establishes a fine balance between forms and heartfelt hand strokes. She loves to work on canvas as it attracts her to communicate with it. Her conversation with the canvas continues until she reaches the pinnacle of thoughts. The process is so natural that she makes no pretensions of showing her emotions and feelings through herart. But she does not stop these from emerging either.
Ashish Kushwaha
Ashish is highly influenced by the power and vitality of tribal art whether it is a matter of affinity or a direct influence. His experiences are related to the superfluous realities for instance, the power of “diety” lies not in its magical attributes but in the visual rendering. The notion of the unequal development of societies based upon the unequal development of production technologies is a historical notion over senses to other objects in nature such as colour, form, volume etc. whatever this may or may not represent. We may or not understand but we are without question aware of it.
Chaudhari Balu
He is another artist from Bhopal who is working at Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal. He is a self confessed student of Nature. His paintings and colours are inspired from the natural phenomena. To the discerning viewer his art gazes at you with hypnotic charm. A charm that he creates out of his play of colours. He says he sees a kind of eroticism in the elements of Nature which provides him the energy to paint. But to the admirer of his painting his works charm you with lusciousness of their colour and form. There is something innately beautiful about Balu’s paintings. A painting which to the gullible viewer would appear like a fish in an aquarium is actually inundated with imageries of natural processes and beauties so subtly weaved in the body of a fish. Similarly a painting portraying tortoises oozes erotic charm and beauty that startles you and amazes you when you discover the meanings which open like the peels of an onion, one after another.
Faiyyaz Khan
Faiyyaz is carving out his own niche through his ink drawings. His drawings have a perfect fusion of modern and traditional aspects. He takes images from both the real and the mythological world and behind it is the shadow of ruin, both physical and spiritual. Sometimes images seem grotesque and distorted but an informed eye can notice thematic ensembles in them. They are the modern mutations of deities where incense sticks and wreaths have turned into rifles and grenades. Through these images he shows his concern for the loss of religious sensibilities.
Harish Ojha
“Folk life is the real life” the traditional and the cultural life of a place lies in the folk tradition. Folk life is generally supposed to be related to the mythycal rituals, festivals and magical or magic-religious practices of people. Harish always tries to communicate with this aspect of life through his painting where he tries to create a fair like atmosphere with the form and colour. Myth and magic are two important elements of his works. He appropriates his inspirations form traditional folk art. He does not get preoccupied with the mechanics of how a painting is done. He is much involved in how he can provide his viewer, a source of delight. This is the principal behind the classical Indian concept of Chamatkara, he tries to create a world of sublime magic in his creation.
Hemant Rao
In my works the forms shape around a deep feeling of peace and tranquility. Somewhere I can find peaceful reflection of morning at the other the grey of dusk. The dots of multitude colors and shapes in forms and feelings, though abstracts, these are the seeds borne of my own inner self, yielding through different colors and shapes. In these unpremeditated forms I can find reflection of my own imaginative self. They are those moments of life which give me great ecstasy. Light penetrating through layers of grey off white shades its shadow. The transparent forms lay bare my own intrinsic elements of softness and sensitivity.
Jitendra Dangi
He is a painter whose thought process is deeply inspired by the great mythological tradition of India. A painter in great control of his art form Jitendra is still intrigued by the mythologies and the meanings they appear to convey. He looks to be searching for meaning in this modern world from the inspiring tales of the mythologies. In this exhibition Jitendra showcases his interpretation of Lord Krishna’s life and his messages. His style is randomly inspired by various Indian traditional paintings like Ajanta & Ellora, Madhubani style and also the great miniature styles of Rajastan and Gujrat. To the discerning viewer Jitendra’s painting may seem to be telling a story. But if one goes rather deeply, one might find thought processes of epic proportions merged into the canvas. Being an original resident from Vidisha he brings the rich folk tradition in his paintings from his region. One can say Jitendra is a modern Balladeer in traditional mould but with a difference that he paints.
Manish
“In the field of Art the process of creation begins from that stage where we draw a small dot or point on any white canvas…..” Usually, Manish starts his work according to his mood and inner feelings and during this process, canvas or paper are a medium. From the very beginning, he was always attracted by the freedom of lines and forms. So, he gave them total freedom in the space of his work. He tries to express it in such a bold manner that it can be touched by the extreme level of expressions. He also wants that these lines don’t look like struggling between themselves rather depicting like playing with each other.
Kalu Ram
He is a veteran sculptor from Bhopal. He needs no introduction. His works adorn many a discerning art lovers’ homes and living rooms both in India and abroad. One cannot miss the simplicity in his works. For example, the piece of work in the form of bullock cart – this sculpture in ceramic is one of the most representatives of Kalu Ram’s works and style. Here the bullock and the cart are wrung as one whole. The fact just as we cannot think of a bullock without the cart and a cart without the bullock, in this work we see the two images blend so unanimously that we fail to notice the trick at immediate first sight. But Kalu Ram is too simple to trick us into something. It is the message of pain and hurt that Kalu Ram feels he likes to convey. He says that he wants preserve the lost innocence of our nativity and village life that is rapidly vanishing from our culture. Kalu Ram works from Bharat Bhawan at Bhopal and Bhopal is where lived all his life.
Ankur Khare
His work is predominantly associated with time and change and can be perceived almost everywhere like in nature, art, life, expression, emotions etc. As they both are literal and inseparable so they reveal the various consecutive stages of development of an object -- that occurred with each passing juncture. These changes are crucial and clearly visible in the form of layers -- several and successive, growing and spreading, one after the other, full of vivid colors -- covering a structure/wrapping a base and perfectly organized in such a expressive way that the overall look, balance or totality can more be appreciated than stated.
Neeraj Yadava
He likes to paint the monsoon and the thunder. After all this great phenomena is the harbinger of fresh life sap in the stems of the trees blood in the human veins. In the transition from the hot to the cool nature composes eternal patterns. This play of lightning and thunder attracts me a energizes me to paint and paint experimenting new forms.
Pankaj Kumar Sharma
The subject matter he uses in his paintings and drawings are the emotional feelings expressed through lines and colours. As lines are the very basis of Indian Painting he gets the energy and force to capture each and every activity from his day to day life bounding them in his lines. He likes to capture every single moment of his experimenting vision to explore more and more in a different ways.
Anand Prakash
Anand is young bright and promising painter who possesses enormous talent. The purity of his works is remarkable. The colours he uses in his paintings have a uniqueness about them. You might be lost in the ambience of his colours without realising that he also tries to convey something of utmost importance to you. He has great things to convey through his works. True art need not just be carrying a social message. In this exhibition one may find few hints of the great talent of Anand. But truly Anand has a lot under his armoury and is a painter to be looked out for in the future.
Shaam Pahapalkar
Shaam has always been very sensitive towards his surroundings, people, relationships and events that took place.
He tried to portray the events through objects with a new relation and a deeper meaning in his paintings but do not change any event or objects into a message or a story. Shaam’s painting “A Good Carrier” shows a truck which is used to carry transporting women in city clothing. The meaning is obvious. He does not feel the need to state it. It is seen that the real part of metro city where girls are brought in from small and big towns and villages for flesh trade.
Pradeep Dwivedi
He is another artist from Bhopal of great reputation and one who is widely appreciated. This status of this forum is greatly augmented by his participation. Pradeep is a keen observer of the nature and its unending manifestations. For him creativity is only but a part and parcel of this natural process. He, therefore, paints with gay abandon depicting the communion of life with nature and vice versa with his subtle imageries and style. He is most impressed by the duality in our life. The Day versus the Night, the Good versus the Bad, the Man versus the Woman and this process of duality in our life is unending. He is at the same time teasing and as well as sensitising the viewer by his intriguing images. There is a concept of progression of time and a concept of shape that is quite evident from his works.
Samar Yusuf
It is his belief that composition of his work attract him, He likes to play with lights different colors how it falls on any objects and creates different dimensions to it. Light is the basic need of life, it has got no solid form. He likes the speed of light. It is just like his upbringing, it is free. It has an absorbing nature, just like a small child. Light can give presences to any work. The beauty of it always makes him experiment more about light.
Satya Dheer Singh
The use of colors in my painting reflects a different mood and a variety, which I am enjoying more than my previous work. My subject has always been a lover of the middle class family, and the use of Rickshaw, its unique identity coupled with the special circumstances in Northern India has always been the theme which I have tried to represent in my paintings. The couple, their desires and the man who is trying to fulfill them has been symbolized in these paintings. Their arms and legs are shown to be excessively flexible, by which I have tried to fulfill their inconceivable desires which are impossible for a common man to even wish for, in his daily routine life. People who come to see my paintings too are perplexed with my depiction of the arms and legs, they are filled with questions but imagination has no bounds, the realization that everything is possible only adds to the enthusiasm in me.
Shalini Srivastava
I painted on canvas my thinking my desires through my imagination whatever I do, or whatever I want to do in my life ,I express them through art in my paintings. My paintings don’t have any special subject or medium. I depict myself, my dreams what I went to do, very freely, without any restrictions or bondages. In most of my paintings fairies are depicted, but these are not merely fairies but these are my dreams, my imaginations, what I think what to do. If I have”WINGS” then I will do all those things in a better way. I can reach those heights which I want to go “TOTALLY FREELY”.
Shruti Thakur
She is a budding and upcoming sculptor of great talent and imagination in mixed media. She is moved by the concept of conservation of energy of the nature and celebrates in the fruition of the feminine around her as much as in herself. Her sculptures in the mixed media are startling as well exquisite in their pure aesthetics. The forms that she uses are both lively and socially relevant. Something as simple an animal like pig can be the subject matter of her works. Pig she says is a socially useful animal involved in the activity of cleaning the waste created by human beings but it does its work so unconsciously. But Shruti is so oblivious of the fact that her images are pregnant with feminine images and the concepts of energy, fertility, fruition and unbridled hope and kindness.
Uday Goswami
He is yet another budding young painter who possesses enormous talent. The purity of his lines and images are remarkable. The colours he uses in his paintings have a uniqueness about them. You might be lost in the ambience of his colours without realising that he also tries to convey something of utmost importance to you. An artist always needs an idiom to address his viewers. Here Uday uses the bees and their hives as his leitmotiv in his paintings of the current phase. But the bees and the beehives are only an excuse for Uday. He has great things to convey through his works. True art need not just be carrying a social message. The visual splendour is also important to capture the imagination of the viewer. In this exhibition one may find few hints of the great talent of Uday. But truly Uday has a lot under his armoury and is a painter to be looked out for in the future.
Veena Jain
She has maintained a very intimate relationship with the surroundings. Whatever she has seen around her she has striven to express it through her paintings in a unique manner. She feels that all the non-living things, which appear in her paintings, are related to each other and she also feels that they are interacting among themselves. Her works take their final form with the aid of concrete and abstract images. She has tried to look and present many fundamental layers present beneath the obvious. The rural ambiance and mud racked houses has deeply affected her mental make-up. Travelling down the lanes of her childhood, She found herself attached closely to such scattered memories.
Anil Ijeri
My recent works are based on the human desire and his needs, some where I pointed out my own character comparing with others. Here I felt the possibilities of using different forms from Egyptian civilization; it was in the point of analyzing mythological understanding between different cultures. My aim was to point out rural culture comparing with Egypt, it was through the mummy, pyramid, calligraphy ancient scripts and the aquarium pot, which inspired me to depict and keep attention with the concept of energy and holy happenings. On the way it relating with the temples by showing pyramid inside the formation, the formation of different cultures are same, here I have used many different elements with realizing my past experience with the present thought and earnings. In these serious I have tried to depict individual experience with the work of art.
