Seeing the world in a grain of sand, capturing the gist of life in a blob of paint -- can a canvas capture that? Can devotion, in a land chockfull of contradictions and numerous religious thoughts , be perceived as an abstract and metaphysical piece of creative contemplation, essentially secular and spiritual work of art? The pensive and meditative portraits of spiritual gurus and godly figures of Buddha, Krishna, Shiva, Parvati and others by artists Satish Gupta, Shuvaprasanna, Sudip Roy, Puja Bahri, Prithvi Soni, Chottu Lal ,amongst others, exemplify just that beautiful tenet of Indian spiritual philosophies.
Evocative of complete surrender to the idol of their devotion, the artists dig into their inner selves to seek solace and a relief from the transient nature of life and the ephemeral world around, goading one towards a spiritual path of humility. There is a philosophical and mystical sophistication in their work as well as Sidharth’s art who paints using his hand made colors. The line between the sacred and the profane comes into full play in Sanjay Bhattacharya’s drawings in Pen, ink and water colors.
Devotion transforms into adulation and obsession as search for human and physical love, be it a man for a woman or mother for her child.
It comes to the fore as in the courting couples and other figurative compositions in paintings by Asit Patnaik, Nayana Kanodia , Mousumi Biswas and Shipra Bhattacharya. The seeds of devotion planted in the mind by desire or awe blossom into love or respect for the chosen subject that often transforms individuals and their life. Depending on its intensity and echelon, ranging from adulation to obsession for a particular entity, cause, idea or faith, human or saintly, factual or fictional, its pursuit can turn things around into one of the two extreme modes of renunciation or revulsion. Then there are fluid depictions at cross roads between painting and sculpture by Venkat Bothsa. Evoking the flourish of the street painter, images of the lotus with the curling tendrils play themselves in painted steel in large dramatic sizes.
The cryptic written word found often on the rear of public vehicles has communicated directions, slogans and sometimes nothing. The fonts were developed in an indigenous flavor, combining popular culture, street graffiti and a homegrown language. This is what Alex Davis looks into Devotion. The folk element continues to play through colorful paintings of Telangana women by Vaikuntam.
Nature appears in a different mode and frame in Surya Prakash’s colourful landscape and Gurdeep Singh’s bright and colorful canvases. The changing life patterns and the world around are seen to get differently moulded in metal sculptures by Dimpy Menon, Gautam Bhatia and Enas MJ.
Evocative of complete surrender to the idol of their devotion, the artists dig into their inner selves to seek solace and a relief from the transient nature of life and the ephemeral world around, goading one towards a spiritual path of humility. There is a philosophical and mystical sophistication in their work as well as Sidharth’s art who paints using his hand made colors. The line between the sacred and the profane comes into full play in Sanjay Bhattacharya’s drawings in Pen, ink and water colors.
Devotion transforms into adulation and obsession as search for human and physical love, be it a man for a woman or mother for her child.
It comes to the fore as in the courting couples and other figurative compositions in paintings by Asit Patnaik, Nayana Kanodia , Mousumi Biswas and Shipra Bhattacharya. The seeds of devotion planted in the mind by desire or awe blossom into love or respect for the chosen subject that often transforms individuals and their life. Depending on its intensity and echelon, ranging from adulation to obsession for a particular entity, cause, idea or faith, human or saintly, factual or fictional, its pursuit can turn things around into one of the two extreme modes of renunciation or revulsion. Then there are fluid depictions at cross roads between painting and sculpture by Venkat Bothsa. Evoking the flourish of the street painter, images of the lotus with the curling tendrils play themselves in painted steel in large dramatic sizes.
The cryptic written word found often on the rear of public vehicles has communicated directions, slogans and sometimes nothing. The fonts were developed in an indigenous flavor, combining popular culture, street graffiti and a homegrown language. This is what Alex Davis looks into Devotion. The folk element continues to play through colorful paintings of Telangana women by Vaikuntam.
Nature appears in a different mode and frame in Surya Prakash’s colourful landscape and Gurdeep Singh’s bright and colorful canvases. The changing life patterns and the world around are seen to get differently moulded in metal sculptures by Dimpy Menon, Gautam Bhatia and Enas MJ.