Other States - Rajasthan   

An extraordinary show in Jaipur

Sunny Sebastian

On view are Ankit Patel bronzes, dancing and pulsating, and much more... .

IN NATURAL SURROUNDING: Ankit Patel with his sculptures.

JAIPUR: The Pink City now has a garden of Ankit Patel bronzes along Jawaharlal Nehru Marg. Static and kinetic, Ankit sculptures dance in the wet monsoon breeze and, as any Ankit piece would, also pulsate.

There is a perpetual rhythm to his forms; though in metal, they spin and move as lightly as silk.

There are as many as 20 of them, all in bronze varying in size from 2 feet to 11 feet on the lawns of the Clarks Amer Hotel which is hosting 22 of his drawing as well at "ta BLU", the café bar art gallery in the oldest five-star hotel in the whole of Rajasthan.

It is not surprising that Ankit's work would represent Delhi and India at the coming Commonwealth Games. The sculptures move in harmony, in perfect unison, spinning and knocking a ball.

"Yes, there had been some influence of the recently concluded World Cup as well," the soft-spoken artist confesses.

Ankit believes that the spinning movement has almost become part of his system. Whatever may be the reason, the spiral movement became the central concern of his work.

Of course, Ankit with tremendous loyalty and patience has kept exploring the possibilities of the kinetic elements in his sculptures.

In one of his last critiques, the late writer and connoisseur of art, Mulkraj Anand, wrote about Ankit: "Ankit Patel is a dynamic sculptor who makes solid matter into curvaceous movement. The curves seek to suggest that solid is liquid. His forms create human rhythms of bodies, which are elastic and suggest elasticity of the human body where flesh is breathing. His kinetic creations which exude form in every movement can only be revealed by his skill and presentation."

Ankit Patel, who studied creative sculpture at M.S. University of Baroda, is at present teaching at the Rajasthan School of Art in Jaipur.

The Surat-born (1957) sculptor is due for a show at the prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai later this year and has also been invited to Paris, Encounter-France-India.

The garden exhibition of bronzes and the paintings at the art gallery will be on view for a month.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

CPI(M) focus on Rajasthan; Buddhadeb to address Sikar meet
A pat from Delhi for Rajasthan
An extraordinary show in Jaipur
Rajasthan allocates funds for heritage conservation

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu