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MEETING OF THE MINDS One of the works at the exhibition

The artists participating in this show are heavyweights who have reached a benchmark in their lives artistically as well as professionally. By the latter the implication is to heads of art institutions or apex government bodies such as Lalit Kala Akademi. The participating artists are Amrut Patel, R. B. Bhaskaran, Jai Krishn Agarwal, M. K. Puri, Jeram Patel, Suman Gupta, Vidhyasagar Upadhyay, Mukul Panwar and Brahm Prakash. Their visual language ranges from realism to quasi abstraction to abstraction. The artists are painters, printmakers, sculptors and this diversity imparts versatility to the show.

Amrut Patel, an Ahmedabad-based artist, is an abstractionist whose organicity of forms has been created in acrylics. Credited with pioneering this medium as early as 1972, he arrived at his visual language which parallels modern artists such as Kandinsky and Mark Rothko. V. S. Upadhyay, from Rajasthan, is an abstractionist whose unusual circular formats are colour spangled attempting to capture those elusive and transitory moments on canvas. The circular canvases are also reflective of his concept of ‘matter’ of which we are all made of, as well an oblique gesture towards planet earth comprising ‘matter’.

Brahm Prakash, a Chandigarh-based abstract artist, studied print making at the Delhi College of Art. His experiments with intaglio and relief process are reflected in his works that have an affinity for textures as well as a play of lines integrated with colours. His abstractions evoke natural forms and images like the rocky formation, the ripples on the water surface or the ambience of a mist.

Delhi-based M. K. Puri’s quasi abstractions convey a surreal feel with floating human shapes that simultaneously have an underlying rhythm. An intensity underpins his works articulated through eyes and mouth or gestures. The colours are equally powerful in their subtlety and contemplative feel. R.B. Bhaskaran’s imagination and perceptions of ‘reality’ manifest themselves in his oeuvre that spans three decades. Mukul Panwar is a Lucknow-based artist, whose sculptures have a primitive feel particularly in the representation of the heads that exude a raw vitality, with geometricised features, oval heads and long contemplative eyes.

Jeram Patel, based in Baroda, is a senior artist, a pioneer, since he formulated a new visual identity by evolving abstraction in sculpture in the 50s and 60s. His innovative approach in handling wood as a material with technological interventions such as blow torch and enamel has enabled him to create significant works. Extending it further, the forms emerging in his sculptures have been translated into his water colours which impart a minimal feel.

Jai Krishan Agarwal from Lucknow has been involved in print making for the past four decades. His visual language is premised on his childhood experiences of living in the forest. His works have a spiritual aura defined by his deft manipulation of white spaces on his paper and with a minimal form dictating his concepts.

Jammu-based Suman Gupta’s realistic representations create a metaphoric and a philosophical dialogue making Nature an interventionist element. Having grown up in Kashmir, his landscapes reflect his engagements with diverse aspects of Nature. The show is on at Vinyaasa Art Gallery until February 10.

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