WOMEN POWER

Two women artists from Goa with no formal background in art yet an intense desire and passion for the subject have been painting their mind and heart for a very long time. They are an encouraging example of housewife rising up to establish their identity beyond the four walls of the kitchen.

Jyoti Mehta and Nandini Raikar are neither neo-liberals nor feminist. Their inner calling drives them to scale new levels. Initially guided by Wilson D’Souza, they went on to hone their skill of painting with senior and noted artist, Sadguru Chendvankar.

‘If Wilson taught the basics and helped use take the baby steps, Chendvankar sir helped us realize our own potential and explore it,’ says both, Jyoti and Nandini, in unison.

‘Nandadeep’ is an exhibition of their paintings currently on at the Goa Kala Academy, Panaji. Each of them is preoccupied with a subject that has been close to their heart. If Jyoti explores the life of Gautam and teachings of the Buddha, Nandini is fascinated by the spiritual wealth of Banyan tree as explained in the Hindu texts.

        

‘The world is growing intolerant and violent with divisive forces taking control with each passing day. Human beings have unleashed a wave of destruction of nature and plunder of natural resources. In view of the aforementioned, the teaching of Gautam Buddha stand a chance to bring a semblance of sanity and order to the human civilization,’ Jyoti.

Jyoti’s preoccupation with the teachings of the Buddha found itself transformed into paintings that illustrate and elucidate for the uninitiated. She has successfully touched upon the key aspects that add to the woes of the common individual and the application of teachings of Buddha that can mitigate the difficulties to lead a content life. She drew inspiration from the Buddha.

‘Key to Happiness’ and ‘Aadhar Stambh’ are philosophical whereas, ‘Pressure Cooker’ is a parody that speaks of the stressful life that we lead. ‘Paduka’ is almost reverential and speaks of the spiritual leaning of the artist. 'Journey to Enlightenment', 'Peace' and 'Ancient Wisdom' depicts various phases of Buddha's life.

“'Mother's blessing' gives us that message that we should use mother nature's resources like a Bhikshuk with a Bhiksa patra (bowl) where he will take only what is required and not be greedy,” explains Jyoti.

'Search of Self' shows the phases of human life where we keep changing our personality to adapt to a character of a successful person with time but still cannot discover our true self. ‘Imminent future’ shows the pressure we are building on the Mother Nature and ourselves and the danger emanating out of that situation.

Nandini’s faith in the ‘Banyan Tree’ has lead her to paint this subject. An impression that got imprinted during her childhood has got sharper and clearer as she grew in age. Her love for art and all forms creative gave impetus to the long stored wealth of religious symbolisms to flow out and transform into paintings that speak of Nandini’s deep-rooted belief in this revered tree.

‘I use symbols with limited interpretations,’ says Nandini before adding, ‘my works by and large speak a direct language.’ And it’s true for the message is not concealed in any difficult symbols. Play of hues and use of tints and shades elevate her works of an admirable level.

Lord Ganesh, Tulsi Vrandhavan, ‘Banyan Tree’, seemingly insipid seed and such forms play a drama to convey a message. ‘Banyan Tree’ magically bears human looking forms and faces that covertly convey the message of inseparable nature of our relationship with the whole of this world. The magnanimous Vedic concept of ‘Vasudev Kutumbakam’ gets illustrated through her works.

A humongous Banyan tree comes out of a small seed is aptly shown in one of Nandini’s works.The nature worship and the nature centric religious practices as prescribe in the ‘Sanatan Dharma’ are aptly projected through these works.

Painting for Jyoti is more than an act of amusement. It is ‘Sadhana’ that she intends to draw strength from and grow in Art and Life.

Both of them have put up some of their quality works with apt compositions and interesting hues.

The show was on view till January 7, 2013.

12X12 AT CASA GOA

The 12^th of  December 2012 resonated with special vibrations for the total human race. This combination of numbers will never come back in our lifetime. Whatever the numerologists might interpret, the artists from Goa did what they are good at – paint.

Pradeep Naik, a well-established young artist with a reputation to churn out interesting compositions, got excited about the numerical magic that got the whole world worked-up. ‘12 artists producing works of size 12x12 inches with a price tag of rupees 12,000/- made the whole idea seemed very exciting to me,’ says Pradeep who coordinated the show that was held at ‘Casa Goa’ in Baga.

‘Cezar Pinto came to my rescue by offering me his art gallery at his style shop – Casa Goa’ and December 12^th of 2012 seemed the best option to have a public display of the creations,’ explains Pradeep.

The show titled ‘12x12=12000’ has on display about forty works of sixteen artists from Goa. Kalidas Mhamal, Rajendra Usapkar, Ramdas Gadekar, Kedar Dhondu, Santosh Morajkar, Pradeep Naik, Chaitali Morajkar, Vitesh naik, Shilpa Mayekar Naik, Vasudev Shetye, Siddharth Gosavi, Vijai Bhandare, Subodh Kerkar, Sachin Naik, Viraj Naik, Preetesh Naik and Shripad Gurav have exhibited their interesting miniature sized works.

Rajendra exhibited a forceful mixed media work. Lines remain his strength and blobs of vibrant red hue spread to accommodate the forms. Kedar’s impressive ‘Landscape’ was an example in photo-realism. Commenting on environmental issues, Kedar speaks of the narrow space we are left with to maneuver out of the mess.

Santosh jumps to make a satirical comment on the level of extreme trepidation and experience common man has on their visit to the market. ‘It’s time for Gods to come at our rescue,’ says Santosh with subdued exasperation. ‘Flight to Goa’ is an interesting creation by Vitesh. He’s an artist to have a close watch on for his consistently qualitative output. ‘Feather I, II & III’ by Shilpa is a treat to the eye and displays her delicate handling of lines and detailed observation.

Vasudev plays with the texture and builds forms out of it. Siddharth’s ‘Shiva’ and ‘Ganesh’ gets a rework without changing the core philosophical element expected in it. The painstaking etching of lines and the collective built-up into a form resonates the dedication of this promising craftsman. ‘We have locked Nature…. But have Lost The Key’ by Vijai speaks of his intellectual caliber and his approach towards the art of painting. He lifts the level of painting into different stratum.

Besides these, the others had put up good show. If in the USA, furniture designers came together to celebrate this concept, the artists in Goa did a far more commendable job by creating art works in spite of the spatial constraint. Being used to painting on a larger format canvas, they did paint within 12x12 inches of paper space.

‘The response was overwhelming and the artists produced extremely marvelous works in spite of the short notice given to them,’ says Cezar Pinto, the owner of Casa Goa at Baga, said before adding, ‘A novel concept drew a lot of art enthusiasts and admirers which made it a day and effort worthwhile.’

TEAM DHARWAD

Goa Kala Academy is flooded with art shows with each one giving Goans an opportunity to understanding the perspective of the artists from other states of India. ‘Recent Perspectives’, an exhibition that has paintings, drawings & graphics by four artists from Karnataka, offered that perspective.

Shashidhar M Lohar, Kallappa Y. Chougale, Jagadish Kadur, Krishna K. M. and Manish Verma put up their recent creations that are executed in oils, acrylics, watercolours etc.

Varying perspectives gave this show an eclectic feel. Meticulous pen and ink works of Shashidhar contrasts with the casual looking yet well thought out lines of Jagadish. Kallappa’s fetish for perceived visual reality of the landscapes compliments Manish’s intent to search for the eluding peace and serenity. 

Shashidhar and Krishna are not new to Goans. Having exhibited their works in Goa, both have got some of their refined works. Shahshidhar’s large sized woodcut images, executed in multiple hues, are commendable. Graphics is a labour intense section with foresight and precision as the essential qualities. Shashidhar’s pen and ink works makes that obvious. He gives a complete fillip to the mundane scenes and items and goes on to blur the spatial divisions. The inside rush out and the outside overwhelms the man-made divisions called dwellings.

One gets transported to a dreamland. Surreal world with flying fishes, floating trees, decorated natures and such phantasmagoric images entice the viewers. Playing with black and white, Shashidhar blurs the line between the negative and positive space and presents an altogether unique work of art.

Kallappa’s landscapes executed in oils, acrylics and watercolours bring alive the rural scenes and village corners. A market lane, lakeside houses, community wells impresses Kallappa. He doesn’t stick to any single medium. He seems to have reasonably good control over watercolours. Early morning soft and mist filled atmosphere spills out to engulf the viewers in one of his works.

Village belle, goats, cows etc come alive in Krishna’s compositions. Fusing the traditional with the modern, he presents very interesting works. The paintings are commercially appealing yet they do not sacrifice with the aesthetic principles. Soft hues and contrasting shades and tints juxtapose to highlight the required forms. Lemon yellow is played with cadmium yellow; viridian green resonates with tints of cobalt blue and such combinations make Krishna’s paintings appealing.

Manish paints Buddha and does it very convincingly. Faces of Buddha gets framed with floral designs and juxtaposed against relevant imagery. ‘Memory of Sanchi’ is a case in point where the ornamental gateway of the stupa is subtly visible with the intricate inscriptions. He uses soft hues and employs minimal brushstrokes. ‘Dhyana’ will appeal to the spiritually inclined. It spreads the right aura of peace and serenity to facilitate relaxation and meditation.

Yoga fascinates Jagadish. He has displayed various asana and exercises from the yoga sutra. Most of his drawings are filled with linear texture with an isolated figure taking the attention. Few of his paintings were on display as well.

The show was on view till January 3, 2013.     

THE ART YOGI: SUHAS SHILKAR

‘It’s not about beauty, it’s about intensity and how the texture, line, colour, form, marks etc. interact with each other within the space,’ says Suhas Shilkar, who had put on display his latest abstracts titled, ‘Between Despair and Illumination’ at the ‘Sunaparanta – Goa Centre For The Arts’.

Intensity is what nudged Suhas to enroll for the Fine Arts degree course at the Goa College of Art much against his parent’s reservation and dismay. This bold decision in the late seventies did throw up challenges and trepidation. Suhas took the challenge head-on and survived to create a special space for him in the art world.

‘My tryst with the art world began much earlier in my childhood with the introduction of various prints of noted abstract artists such as Joan Miro and others,’ explains Suhas. ‘It was an exhibition, in the mid seventies, of abstract drawings, at the Institute Menezes Braganza Hall, based on the poems of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, by Vamona Ganesh Navelkar, that triggered an urge in me to follow this direction.’

Thirty years is a long time, and Suhas has weathered the rough and the smooth with equanimity of a yogi who is on the path of self-discovery and enlightenment. Abstract art is a religion and a spiritual path for Suhas, and as such he refrains from intellectualizing his piece of creations. He prefers the onlooker to grow their understanding with the artwork.

Suhas Shilkar’s complex looking formulations with vague line here, a bold swoop of paint there and seemingly illegible scribble somewhere along yet intelligently loaded abstract picture make the onlooker probe a little more seriously.

‘For me painting is visual music meant not to evoke only specific moods but having multiple interpretation, that is in other words defining my paintings as almost something so that it could be many things and anything,’ states Suhas. This liberal approach and the enigmatic character of his out and out abstract paintings leaves scope for multiple interpretations and viewpoints. This leads him to shun the idea of titling his individual works and straightjacket the interpretation. He prefers fluidity and ambiguity. This nudges the viewers to extrapolate and discover varied possibilities.

Suhas’ process follows a cascading form with the first stroke navigating into the next and still more additions where every step determine the next, until he feels satisfied with the outcome. Innovative methods and experimentations fill the space between the blank virgin canvas and the completed final piece of art. 

His recent Europe tour added to his interest in incorporating graffiti elements. Suhas feels that to be an evolutionary process in his journey on this path maintaining, along the way, the same incoherent lines, blobs of pigment, flash of virgin space and ambiguous figures.

However, the latest show, titled, ‘Between Despair and Illumination’ reinforces, this writer’s conclusion, that Suhas is a yogi in the field of art. If ‘equanimity is yoga’ then Suhas paints in spite of the extremes of despair on account of failure and illumination lead by success.

The show was on view in December of 2012.