NAGUESH RAO SARDESSAI
The famed Bengal Tiger staring at you, baby elephant cozying
under the protective cover of its mother, birds chirping through the silent
void and various other pictures, by Carl D’Silva, captivate the visitors at the
Gallery Gitanjali, Fontainhas, Panaji, where he’s having his first major show
titled ‘Feathers and Fur’.
“You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus,” said Mark
Twain. Carl, with a conventional art school
education, took it quite seriously and pushed the boundaries of imagination and
sharpened his focus on the emotive aspects of wildlife.
He goes beyond the visible to capture that which is rarely
illustrated. In fact, Carl just doesn’t illustrate but at times infuses drama
in the seemingly bland subjects. A distressed rooster staring at the broken
clay pot that is fashioned on its form; or the frightened rat at the precipice
of a depression in the marshy ground ostensibly engineered by a full-grown
elephant; or even for that matter a tortoise staring in askance, from the
sterile sea-bed, at the army of whales gliding by, are some of the theatrical
and interactive works that provoke a dialogue. Carl entices his viewers with
moving stories laid out in pictorial embellishment.
Carl’s tryst with wildlife began early on. Part-time job at the Bombay Natural History
Society (BNHS) in the mid nineteen eighties and a meeting with the famed
Ornithologist, Dr. Salim Ali strengthened his resolve to work in this
direction. Accompanying wildlife ecologists during their field studies
enhanced Carl’s vision and knowledge of Indian Natural History and assisted in
honing his technical skills.
Even though a career in conservation and wildlife art is extremely demanding physically
taxing, Carl was determined to hold on. Success and recognition came calling in
the early nineteen nineties when he became the first and as yet only Indian to
have his paintings selected for exhibition by the UK based premiere Wildlife
Art (consortium), the Society of Wildlife Artists at their annual juried show
in London’s Mall Galleries. European art connoisseurs picked these paintings
for their collection.
Carl’s talent in illustrating Field Guides on birds has been in great demand
in Europe and in India. His completely new set of 64 colour plates depicting
538 species for Salim Ali’s revised edition of ‘The Book of Indian Birds’
elicited encouraging remark from Andrew Robertson in one of the issues of "Newsletter for Bird-Watchers". He
states, “Certainly the artist has captured
the 'jizz' of most of the birds admirably which indicates a familiarly with the
living birds in the wild that is a prerequisite for accurate drawing."
He as to his credit the honour of illustrating a British
sponsored field-guide to ‘Birds of the Indian Subcontinents’ which led to
production of specialized books on ‘Birds of Bhutan’, ‘Birds of Nepal’ and
‘Birds of North India’. He has also been a major contributor to specialized
monographs like ‘Parrots of the World’ and ‘Pheasants, Partridges & Grouse
of the World’ and the ‘Birds of East Asia’ that was published in September
2009. The ‘Birds of Mumbai’ published by IBH in 2003 is a best seller.
Carl had convened a show titled ‘Wildlife in Art’ at the
Institute Menezes Braganza Hall in the early nineteen nineties. Works of
students and professionals rubbed frames and enlivened the premises.
Carl’s refinement and skill in accurately capturing the
nuance in the wild world and the species pervading therein, is globally
acknowledge. This has helped catapult him to a position where he is one of the
most sought after artist for high quality illustrations.
His painting on big canvas enlarges his oeuvre and embraces
the viewers into an enticing comfort zone.
Carl, widely acknowledged as India’s leading Wildlife
Artist, is responsible for introducing world-class standards in modern Wildlife
Art and attracting appreciative attention from across the world.
The Gallery has introduced a ‘Meet The Artist Hour’ every
evening from 6 to 7 during the exhibition at the venue. This is to facilitate
wildlife enthusiast and students to interact and strike a dialogue with Carl
and partake the wealth of knowledge Carl is bursting with.
Limited edition prints on canvas will be available for
fifteen percent of the price quoted for the original painting. The Gallery will
encourage orders for commission work as well.
Gallery Gitanjali is currently showing
'Feathers and Fur: A wildlife painting exhibition' by naturalist and artist Carl
D’Silva between 24- 30 August 2013.
The exhibition was opened by H.E., the Governor of Goa , Shri Bharat Vir
Wanchoo.
