Six Indian painters to exhibit in Dubai
The Intex, Colours On Canvas in Dubai will be showcasing the work of six well-known Indian painters from the western state of Maharashtra at an exhibition called Maratha Kaleidoscope.
Anand Panchal, Buwa Shete, Fatima Ahmed, Ravi Mandlik, Sunil Padwal and Surender Jagtap will be presenting a kaleidoscope of the region they represent at the exhibition from tomorrow.
The recent works of the young Anand Panchal show simple forms, an expression of people's emotions. This talented and committed artist who hails from Latur in Maharashtra paints children as he sees them - innocent, vulnerable and with a strong will to do something in life.
Sun as energy
Symbols of the tree of life, home for protection and the sun as energy are used throughout his work.
Panchal is also greatly influenced by the Indian epic Ramayana. He has portrayed Luv and Kush, the children in the epic, as symbols of force. The artist believes in blending the beauty of mythological stories with the present day.
Sunil Padwal has worked with some of India's leading publishing houses and advertisement agencies as an illustrator, visualiser and consultant art director.
"My paintings are a mixture of the classical and modern forms of art and from the beginning I have been influenced by British and Russian graffiti art and Russian icons," says Padwal.
He does not use ancient culture nor does he allude to mythology or for that matter delve into folk tradition. As a result his works are unaffected by restrictive norms and he emerges as an artist with his own style.
His works have one common link - the human figure, enigmatic yet familiar, in all its complexity, triumphs and despairs.
Individual aesthetic
Rave Manlike has made his name as an artist of highly individual aesthetic. Although he presented figurative work in his first one-man show, abstract art has always fascinated him.
Buwa Shete's painting... His favourite subject is contemporary Indian figures.© Gulf News |
Vivid forms emerge from the fossilised rocky surfaces and his landscapes, although creating an atmosphere of alien mystery, are very down-to-earth.
"Texture is a matter of prime concern," says Manlike. "I search for my inner self in rocks and my work has now reached a stage of forms that have been freely achieved."
In recent works Ravi has depicted earth-coloured acrylic pigments mixed to the consistency of green lands. By drying the paint quickly he creates a muddy rind-like surface and his abstracts are full of visual energy.
Surendra Jagtap is from Latur too, the area where a major earthquake some years ago wrecked havoc. This traumatic experience has affected the works of Jagtap and other artists from the district.
After a stint at the JJ School of Art, Jagtap came to be regarded as an accomplished portrait painter. The human form is his main pictorial subject and the women in his paintings seem to sing and talk to you. There is an underlying sense of acceptance and tranquility in his work.
At the age of 30, the artist explores new horizons searching for novel poses in the human form and employing colour and line in a dramatic fashion.
A graduate from Abhinav Kala in Pune, Buwa Shete has been working with advertising agencies as a creative director and illustrator for several years.
He painted simultaneously and won an award at the National Exhibition for young painters organised by prominent Indian artist M.F. Hussain. His favourite subject is contemporary Indian figures. He uses warm glowing colours and his brush strokes speak of a changing, turbulent world.
Simplicity
Simplicity in form and colour has been Fatima Ahmed's single preoccupation since she started her career as an artist in the early Sixties.
"I have always disliked cluttered compositions and multiple colours," she explains. "Earlier my figures were very sculptured, well defined with harsh outlines but now they are ethereal, with soft colours and blurred outlines."
Ahmed works primarily in oils on canvas but sometimes ventures into the world of watercolours bringing out their fluidity and transparency.
"I feel a successful painting is one that does not merely arrest you in its form and colour but transports you into the beyond, taking you to the formless and eternal," she adds.
