New Delhi   

An artist on a journey

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

New Delhi: Narendra Raghunath's second `Journey' series in oil paints attracted keen art connoisseurs during the weeklong exhibition at Lalit Kala Academy here.

The exhibition, which concluded on Monday, took the visitors "through a journey of resistance to destruction, in varying form''. The special aspect about the works was that standing in front of any canvas, a visitor's thought process was immediately drawn to issues on time, life, knowledge, action, power, hunger, desire, freedom, and belief. As such, the visitors were encouraged to follow the paintings in order.

Raghunath, whose paintings and sculptures also adore the collection of private collectors, has created "a world without colours''. As colours without shades make no sense at these crossroads, his works reflect on issues such as Gods, prophets, power, politics, pain, love, truth, lie, deceit and the life of living. They seek to make one wonder who they are and where are they.

At the end of this introspection, questions will be in abundance with answers that are in short supply. There begins a journey. A journey to reach out to the subjects that one often encounters at the crossroads.

Raghunath's communication opens up doors of perception, so do the paintings. His works are a three-way communication -- visual, verbal and perceptional. The artist does the first two and the third one is a personal prerogative, the viewer's choice. Art cannot be separated from the artist, as also from the viewer.

There is no school of thought, there is no school of style and there is no school of colours that one can follow. It's a journey of freedom, perhaps a freedom from the perceptions of freedom itself. This is what the works show.

In Raghunath's works, forms and perceptions are drenched in colours on canvas.

From canvas to canvas, in this journey, lines are broken, forms are torn apart and conventions are cleared. Still, the universal spirit of resistance survives with a new form, new style and a new painting.

Raghunath's `Garden of Passion' depicts passion between an ageing tree and blossoming flower. From evolution to eternity, it depicts how life is a passionate struggle for survival.

A self-trained artist, Raghunath hails from Kerala and is now settled at Ahmedabad. A computer professional, he also had a stint in journalism.

But then in 2002 he started a series in oil paints and mastered cartoons and sculpture. And in 2004, he conducted a solo cartoon exhibition on the occupation of Iraq by Allied Forces.

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