Abstract art depicts an artist’s subliminal thoughts, understood by a viewer who is ‘willing’ to read forms in formlessness, silence in cacophony and somehow searching for tangibility in the artist’s visceral realm.
The ongoing art show, Ores Of Trance, is about an open-ended discussion about the works of eight abstract artists who have intuitively assimilated unforeseen elements to invoke new layers of depth. The show, curated by eminent artist TK Harindran, features contemporary artists such as Akhilesh, Bhagwan Chavan, P Gopinath, Hemraj, Rashmi Khurana, Shobha Broota, Shridhar Iyer, and Yusuf.
“Let us witness each artist’s deep, solitary and meditative engagements with time, matter and space,” says Harindran at the start of the gallery walkthrough, while pausing before the works of Yusuf. The Gwalior-born National Award-winning artist works with scattered and geometric forms with a restrained use of colours.
In his Untitled, meticulous use of lines commands attention. The work vaguely depicts a broken window, criss-crossed by wooden frames where parts of it are weathered by time as if reflecting a fragmented state of mind. “Yusuf uses the lines simply but strongly in a way that they neither attack the viewer nor make a statement. He has negated colours or too many elements to emphasise the patterns of lines,” says Harindran.
While the broken window is one way to interpret his work, Yusuf tells us that there is “no reference point” in abstract art. “In figurative works, form is prominent and the line is secondary, but in mine, the line takes prominence as I let them wander according to my imagination.”
Of calm and storm
While Yusuf’s work evokes a state of cerebral disorientation, in sharp contrast, Delhi-born artist Shobha Broota’s ‘Untitled’ produces a meditative effect. Her mixed media artwork features a rich red canvas woven with a deceptively simple thread work.
“Broota is a classical singer as well. So, just like music is based on the repetition of certain notes, her art is driven by the rhythmic repetition of geometric patterns. A long gaze at her minimalist works allows one to look deeper inwards and move beyond the ephemeral feelings,” Harindran adds, as we stand before a work where the eye goes to its tiny squares.
We move towards Delhi-based artist Shridhar Iyer’s stormy canvas, ‘Jatra’. Its wave-like effect, suggestive of a whirlwind, and a splatter of vital colours, purple, pink and red, seem to express mental tumult.
“The painting is like a tempest of thoughts unleashed upon the viewer much like Japanese artist Hokusai’s paintings that are visually striking and evocative with sea wave-like images. There’s a certain level of immediacy with which Shridhar draws the turmoil of the human mind on the canvas,” says Harindran about the leading abstract artist who has previously exhibited at Perth, Melbourne, California, Paris and London.
Culture in the roots
The exhibition also reminds us of the primordial. In Bhopal-based Akhilesh’s ‘Black Is Missing’, absurd objects, human-like figures and bizarre signage serve as conduits to the primeval way of life in the Stone Age. Harindran points out that the inspiration comes from the rock-shelter paintings of Bhimbetka.
“Akhilesh wants to remind us of the start of the civilisation — the aborigines. Its elements recall Egyptian hieroglyphs from the pharaonic civilisations. He wants to show how we are disconnected from our origins in the embrace of a new way of life steeped in superficiality,” Harindran adds.
Another artist, P. Gopinath, takes the viewer subliminally to regional culture. The Kerala-born artist, a founder member of the Cholamandal Artists’ Village in Chennai, is inspired by the rustic life. Vignettes of village life of Tamil Nadu are traceable in the artist’s ‘Untitled’ works that show biomorphic forms of the bull that draw on the state’s Jallikattu Bull Festival and architectural forms.
“He makes the viewer ponder on lost language, people, culture, festivity and tribal history. But he’s not making an in-the-face statement, it’s more an intellectual assertion,” Harindran adds. In art, we tend to correlate subject matter to a definitive place, community or time. Gopinath, however, feels his works do not have a ‘subject’. “Instead of figures, colours take prominence in my work, going beyond just a filling agent,” he points out.
Unravelling the hidden
As we walk around the room, Delhi-based self-taught artist Rashmi Khurana’s work beckons us to look at her not-so-rosy artwork, ‘Unrecited Melodies-II’.
After pulping papier-mâché, the artist has crumpled them into balls, and layered them onto the canvas to mimic a soul in catharsis. The canvas is therefore a burst of colours and textures where electrifying pinks, purples, browns and magentas coalesce to express anguish. “Her petals are not delicate, but violent, broken and detached.
The composition can be seen as a way of venting, maybe a painful memory, based on her experiences of life … it’s open to interpretation,” says Harindran.
The walkthrough ends with Hemraj and Bhagwan Chavan’s works, ‘Eternal Reminiscence’ and ‘Between The Palm Trees/ The Reflections’ respectively. They underline the power of abstract art to take the viewer into the depths of the human psyche. “The artworks portray the subconscious thoughts of the artists, played in the moment of creation. They reflect the ebb and flow of their lives where some use lines, others use brush strokes, papier-mâché or threadwork to depict it.”
‘Ores Of Trance’ is on display till May 20 at the new address of Gallery 1000 A, Daryacha building, Hauz Khas.