KARMAHOLIC

NAGUESH  RAO  SARDESSAI

 

If ‘Work Is Worship’ then Damodar Madgaonkar’s, recently held exhibition of paintings at Kala Academy, Goa, titled ‘Karmaholic’ eulogizes the spirit behind human efforts and hard work.

More than thirty odd paintings, an installation and a sculptural piece extol human endeavor to achieve excellence in the chosen field. Artists, musicians, teachers, students, laborers etc. are commended – albeit in a very creative manner through his strikingly innovative style.

  

Damodar is a surrealist with a difference. Rather, he is an artist who defies isms and works from an altogether distinct realm. Many of his paintings are portraits with creative twitching that adds unique character to them.

With no formal degree in art, Damodar has pushed his passion to the very edge of commendable refinement. Each of his creative pieces is a blend of microscopic details and bold lines and wide space. Keeping the compositions straight and conventional, he plays with the concept. Music, technology, films, photography etc gets intertwined with the human aspirations and flowers into success stories.

Damodar, a young, passionate and effervescent artist, does exude affirmative vibes. And his paintings are an extension of his personality. Flying elephant hovering over the forehead of Damodar’s self portrait goes to speak aloud about the inherent die-hard optimist in him. ‘I associate myself with elephant,’ says Damodar. ‘The combination of mild character with inherently humongous power to bring about change is what fascinates me.’

Conversely, he brings to light the questionable happenings and current scenario as well to light. ‘Today’s Human Being’ is a case in point. This lone installation, put together by arranging multiple gadgets that we are depended on, such as mobile phones, variety of watches, discarded motor parts, motherboard pieces etc add up to conjure a human face. This installation gives us a wakeup call.

The visuals, in his works, play a conjuring game that entices the viewers and glues them with intricate enigmatic brainteasers. Animals flow out of a human face that resembles a toy that further has a protruding lion standing guard. Down flows the plants, fish, leaves that are held upright by a form of a musical instrument.

‘DNA Of A Farmer’ depicts a farmer whose whole biological structure is transformed to represent vegetation. The protagonist in ‘Future of Legacy’ is Damodar’s nephew, against the backdrop of ‘Tabla’, who they wish and hope will carry the musical legacy forward.   

Damodar’s works are puzzle enthusiasts fodder and psychoanalysts delight.

He owes his success to his parents and his art instructor - Director of Pied Pieper Academy of Art, noted art teacher and accomplished artist - Wilson D’Souza.

Damodar has a long way to go. Besides managing his hospitality business, Damodar has immersed himself in creating such wonderful art works. He surely has a promising bright future.

The show was on view till October 30.

MATOLI

NAGUESH  RAO  SARDESSAI

Harshada Kerkar Sonak, artist and owner of ‘Harshada’s Art Gallery, Miramar, conceptualized and hosted an exhibition of paintings and drawings titled ‘Matoli’.

‘Matoli’ is a wooden canopy containing seasonal flowers, fruits, leaves, herbs, creepers etc. that is installed over the Idol of Lord Ganesh before the beginning of the Ganesh chaturthi Festivities that begin on the fourth day of the fifth month of the Hindu calendar ie. Bhadrapad.

Lush with locally available floral diversity, the ‘Matoli’ is a display of biological wealth of the region. The Ganesh festival is a symbolic celebration of nature and environment. In fact, Sanatan Dharma, that has assimilated pre Vedic customs and traditions, has various festivals that primarily offer an ode to the Mother Nature.   

Eleven artists from Goa exhibited their expression of the eco-friendly concept of ‘Matoli’ and added various individualistic facets to this seemingly local and pagan socio-religious concept.

Shridhar Kamat Bambolkar, famous for portraying the stunning beauty of Goa’s natural wealth through his realistic and semi-realistic paintings, exhibited the subtle meaning of ‘Matoli’ in his inimitable style. An amorphous Lord Ganesha emanating from the Coconut like form blurs the religious connotations and elevates the same to a universal level. Five oblivious bands of raw hues give structure to the paintings and reflect the five elements of nature that permeates the existence. His paintings please the lay viewer and satiate the aesthetic thirst of the connoisseurs.

Anagha N Deshpande pieced together nine small-sized canvas and painted various fruits. Neat and precise with apt compositions, Anagha’s work, besides being unique, is a visual treat.

Harshada put up two charcoal works with dash of subtle hues and stylized figuration. One of her work displayed interesting composition. Navso, the raw and untrained craftsman, carves Ganesha out of laterite stones. The forms take unique shape without losing the formal sanctity. The paintings displayed at the show resemble the European realistic genre and the still life managed out of the ‘Matoli’ items bring to life the festive atmosphere.

Nirupa Naik’s miniature Ganesh painting with painstaking details poured into it captivated the viewers’ attention. The multitude of hues and fine embellishments elevated the visual beauty and aesthetic appeal.

Noreen Carneiro’s highly stylized ‘Matoli’ with well delineated lines and structured forms washed with controlled hues entice the audience.

Aadhi Vishal, young and emerging artists from the lot, displayed his creative take on the subject in his inimitable style. Shamsunder Narvekar, Shailesh Dabolkar, Shammimullah Sayeed and this writer were the others who had their works on display.     

 

United Art Fair 2013

NAGUESH  RAO  SARDESSAI

The second edition of United Art Fair (UAF) that happened in the second fortnight of September 2013 at Pragati Maidan, Delhi was a grand success.

‘It’s getting bigger and better,’ claimed the brain behind the fair, effervescent Annurag Sharma.

Casa Goa, Goa’s most respected style shop, housed in the primary lanes leading to famed Baga Beach pledged his support to a combination of ten leading as well as promising artists from the State. Apeksha Nadkarni, Liesl De Souza, Nirupa Naik, Rajendra Usapkar, Raymond Pereira, Swapnesh Vaigankar, Salvador Fernandes, Tanaaz De Souza and Yolanda De Sousa displayed their creations.

Casa Goa has been in the forefront of promoting Goan art since long. It has remained reclusive and choosy with the deliberate intention of attracting serious as well as promising players. Cezar Pinto of Casa Goa has remained open to innovative ideas and lends his support to radical artistic endeavors from time to time. His style shop, attracting quality visitors, remains the most sought after space amongst the artists.

UAF being the an anti thesis to the so called high art, Casa Goa felt it apt to step in and support the Goan talent draw advantage from these internationally projected fair. Here, the art world tears itself to move beyond the plush galleries, convention centres and museums to invite each and everyone with enough talent.

 ‘The number of participating artists have gone down from 500 to around 300 artists but, in terms of disciplines and mediums, it’s vast,’ stated Annurag on the sidelines of the show.

Positioning itself as an artist-driven fair, UAF does away with galleries and allows a direct participation of the artists that includes young, upcoming and the established.

This year, UAF had set up an expert panel of curators — Alka Pande, Ram Rahman, Meera Menezes, Heidi Fichtner and Mayank Kaul — lead by artistic director Peter Nagy. They collectively went through portfolios of 4,500 artists from across the country, which included artists from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, tribal artists and craftsperson.

United Art Fair, a four-day affair, had about 283 artists displaying their creations. The works included paintings, sculptures and photography, design (including graphic art, fashion, textiles, furniture, and ceramics) as well as forms of folk and tribal art, crafts and ritual arts.