Experimenting with pastel shades

An artist gets actual recognition when his works display his true philosophy and connects with people from all walks of life. 

A solo exhibition by Ram Kumar titled ‘Lines & Colours’ will be held on January 30 in the national Capital. It’s an array of art works in Ramkumar’s small format works, done on paper with ink/pastel, over five decades or so. 

The exhibition will travel to Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata and will be first shown as a collateral event of India Art Fair in the Delhi Aakriti Art Gallery. The show has been created by well known poet and art critic Prayag Shukla, a close associate of Ram Kumar.

Ramkumar, is regarded as one of the first-generation of post-independence artists in India. His contemporaries included the likes of MF Hussain, FN Sousa, SH Raza and Akbar Padamsee. He began his artistic journey studying at Sharada Ukil school of Art. He later went to Paris and trained under Andre Lhote and Fernand Legar.

The idea is to celebrate and focus on such works which differ to a large extent from the bigger works done on canvas with oil and acrylic and are singular in their approach and intent.

In these small format works, which are of a rare kind, and largely unseen so far, the viewer is invited to absorb more intimately, a journey of the artist which traverses, paths, bridges, mountain- like heights and vistas of a mental cape (signifying landscapes as well) in all their dark, white, grey and bright hues. 

The drawings and pastel works are like diaries of the artist, literally done on Bahikhatas (account books) where a certain ‘contextual’ mood is charted, followed and spontaneously documented, leaf after leaf, in sensitive, live-wire like lines and colours, which are truly sensitising and illuminating. 

These works come directly from the artist to the gallery, and range from 1960s to the present. Ram Kumar excels in ink and pastels, and here we appreciate all the ingredients as much as we appreciate the content and intent of the works. The ‘leafs’ of Bahikhatas, when seen both individually, as well as collectively, whisper softly to us, in a communion which is willfully positive and brings to us a feel of sublime and peace. 

The momentous ‘churning’ of emotions and visual experiences here, marvel in a search of beauty and synergy, to enthrall and captivate our gaze for long.