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Time of India
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Ram Rahman's trio of photographs at Smithsonian Museum
Critic and Curator Uma Nair has been writing for the past 35 years on art and culture She has written as critic for Times of India and Economic Times. She believes that art is a progressive sojourn. She learnt by looking at the best shows in Washington D.C. and New York. As author her most important books are Reverie with Raza and Meditations on Trees by Ompal Sansanwal. LESS ... MORE Photographer, curator, and activist, Ram Rahman, primarily known for photographs that document post-Nehruvian India, has a trio of photographs at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC that define him as a modernist with a lens that dwells on memoir as much as history within the relics of architectural modernism in India. The three black and white images are an amalgam of street scenes as well as stellar portraits. Ram is one of seven photographers whose works are currently on display in the exhibit, Body Transformed: Contemporary South Asian Photographs and Prints. The show, at the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian, Washington D.C., runs till August 17, 2025. The eyes that fill the mosaic of images Historical in tone and tenor is a black and white collage of images taken of the Capital Studios, Delhi, 1988. Replete with multiple images and stories, this series of frames within a single frame is about the past. Over the years, Ram, a trained architect has photographed relics of architectural modernism in the country, scenes from streets, political demonstrations and portraits. Alongside photography, he has also been a writer and curator and has contributed to the discourse on the state of photographic practice in is the beauty of the mosaic of memories that creates its own intonations in the intensity of the bedrock of time and tide. Photo: Folk singer, Delhi, 1987 The portrait of the folk singer is one of distinct directness and a fervour of charming simplicity. Black and white has its own ethos and elegance. The poise and posture both have their own identity in rustic resonance. Historically and genetically Ram is an offspring of pure pedigree. His degree in graphic design from Yale University in 1979 has given him a flair for understanding the nuances of portraiture as well as street scenes that speak beyond the is his inner rhythm filled with cadences of historicity. This portrait of the folk singer is marked by an archival impulse to document. This image belongs to the Collection of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian, Washington D.C. Bhavai Actor Delhi 1982 Portraiture has historically been about the assertion of power, according to many historians who have studied it in detail and image of Bhavai an actor seated in reflective reverie, showcases Ram's keen eye towards details, moments of stillness and grace that capture the social fabric of the country. At once the kinetics of drama plays through the stage scene that enacts its own theatrics. Ram's trio of images are about the narrative of what is resonant as well as residual. We are watching the images, rather than having them imposed upon us. This photograph seeks in an intuitive manner to meld the composure and formal attention of art photography within the narrative of a documentary style. Thus, we see the fusion of the personal and the public as well as fine arts with popular can sense Ram's instinct for capturing with a sense of subtle softness, the deeper subtext of multiple famous and the anonymous both become companions of silent juxtaposition. In the lady's image we sense a performance, more than a representation of reality. In the two portraits we are also reminded of the role of clothing in portraiture which today has evolved with technology. Before the arrival of cheap, widespread photography, people portrayed in images were mostly an elite class. As photography developed, the ambition to represent an individual essence has become is the essence of this trio of black and whites. History says that with photography, from the late 19th century and into the 20th, individuality was a new and valuable currency. In these images we gauge an expression of distinctiveness — what we would call a definitive and unique three images state succinctly that portraiture is worthy of being perpetuated and this is the role of ago in an interview to me Ram said: ' I have over the years come to believe that the power of a portrait is that it goes a long way in helping us to understand and embrace the differences in our society and pins the cultural fabric in a symbolic way.' And so be it. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
A silent synergy of masters in Delhi
Critic and Curator Uma Nair has been writing for the past 35 years on art and culture She has written as critic for Times of India and Economic Times. She believes that art is a progressive sojourn. She learnt by looking at the best shows in Washington D.C. and New York. As author her most important books are Reverie with Raza and Meditations on Trees by Ompal Sansanwal. LESS ... MORE Step into at ARTIX at the Claridges Hotel in Delhi to partake of a silent synergy of Indian abstract Masters at an Art Fair in a hotel. Tarun Khanna is a curator of incredible thought and history ,he brings together abstract masters like G.R. Santosh, Ambadas Khobragade , Achuthan Kudalloor and Sohan Qadri with zest and fervour. Ascension and transcendence both wrap around your senses in this little room that speaks beyond words. Begin with the great Indian abstract master Gulam Rasool Santosh. Order, intensity and yogic discipline all come together in this salient masterpiece. Geometry and symbolism in Santosh Santosh's oeuvre emerges from a syncretic Kashmiri culture in which Hindu practises developed in dialogue with Islamic Sufi traditions and Mahayana Buddhist practises. Santosh who took the name of his wife, moved between Kashmiri poetry, and a modernist mooring in oil work is testimony to a lexicon of what is modern as well as universal in a specific Neo Tantric tradition of the South Asian subcontinent. He uses the yogic posture and takes the dual aspects of the human form to transcendental experience. Known for works in Museums across the world he said: ' Indian tradition is based on the universal concept of the ultimate reality manifesting itself in a myriad shapes and forms in time and space. My own self is preoccupied with the same universal concept…My paintings are based on the male-and-female concept of Siva and Sakti, and therefore, construed as Tantra.' Ambadas Khobradas' rich marblings The abstractionist who desired virginity shorn of romanticism and European accents, Ambadas Khobradas belonged to Group 1890 founded by Jagdish Swaminathan in 1962 .His swirling contours have their own kinetic and contour meshed into his own process of technique and depth of density created its own synergy. Layers of paint seem to coagulate and drip into their own dense down the length of the canvas in a shimmering iridescence, it seems to take on the characteristics of molten lava burning through a geological stratum of hot colours. Ambadas' deliberately dense chromatic fusions of colour shades punctuated by yellow swivels captivate the eye, which revels in the depths of colour present. His penchant for creating rich marblings takes on a tactile quality of moving lava within elastic patterns. Achuthan Kudallur's dense charisma Abstract master Achuthan Kudallur created works that mirrored the beauty of his native land Kerala and the Palghat hills. This verdant vermillion work is a corollary of charismatic moorings in which fragments float in fluid intensity within the pool of his explorations in abstraction. For Kudallur who spent many years at Cholamandalam it is the miasma of multiple moorings that kept his brush both pliant as well as passionate to the core. Achuthan was an artist of deep merit and gravitas. He neither wanted the hollow applause of the market nor did he seek fame, for him his art was about seeking his own soul over the spectacle of superficial whimsy. Sohan Qadri Beej The seed of gestation, the seed of germination, the seeds were more than a meditative sojourn for the Guru the author, poet and abstract master Sohan Qadri. For Qadri a painting was about grasping philosophy as well as simply seeing different levels of sublimation. When you look at the paintings with seeds you know that art for him had to be both profound as well as born of a personal meditative experience. This work at ARTIX , reminds us of primordial seeds and poet Kabir's verses of Bijak. Balaji in crimson tide Bathed against the crimson tide of deep detailing is Jai Khanna's realistic composition of Balaji once its the ebony that grabs your gaze. Flanking the Balaji is a little hanuman who stands in obedient obeisance. Jai says Lord Balaji's miracles inspire millions. They show him as the eternal protector and guardian of his are numerous accounts of devotees witnessing unexplainable miracles, from sudden financial success to healing from ailments, all attributed to Lord Balaji's blessings. This image with its fine rich embellishment in golds is as much about eternal devotion and faith, sacrifice, and a divine purpose.A sense of divinity pervades the room in which this is placed. The tilak on Lord Balaji's forehead represents the sacred Namam of Vaishnavism, denoting devotion to Lord Vishnu. Jai adds that it is believed that Lord Balaji's eyes are so powerful that if fully opened, they can hypnotize and bless devotees beyond their karma, disrupting the cosmic protect devotees from the overwhelming power of His gaze, the tilak partially covers His work has about it a cosmic energy. The Brahmanda Nayaka,the Lord of the Universe stands and beckons. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Six works that define Tyeb Mehta brilliance
Critic and Curator Uma Nair has been writing for the past 35 years on art and culture She has written as critic for Times of India and Economic Times. She believes that art is a progressive sojourn. She learnt by looking at the best shows in Washington D.C. and New York. As author her most important books are Reverie with Raza and Meditations on Trees by Ompal Sansanwal. LESS ... MORE India's greatest million dollar master Tyeb Mehta turns 100 on 26th July 2025 and this milestone is a moment to look at six of his most unforgettable masterpieces created during his lifetime. In an interview to me in 2005 he said: 'I learnt to paint with very little money when I started in the 1950s. It makes you struggle, but the art that is born out of a struggle is different. Yes, it is an artist's dream to capture a market like Picasso, but I did not create art for a market, it was for myself. I created at my own pace.' ITC Maurya's Bull The diagonal, and the bull were his favourite subjects. This work at ITC Maurya Delhi is a masterpiece in melancholic meditation. Tyeb's genius lay in his use of colour, composition, and his radical painting technique of goat planes and fragments. His use of colour here is theatrical: set against a background of darkened planes, the palette is energised to a new intensity with each colour vying for supremacy against his more habitual hues. The figure of the bull bursts with life, imbuing the work with emotional charge and drama. The central theme finds its corollary here, its meaning amplified by the subject of the bull a symbol of torture in slaughter houses in Mumbai. Mahishasura 1997 Sold at Christie's in 2005, his Mahishasura,created ripples in art circles. Ranjit Hoskote wrote that 'the bodies of the protagonists slip and knot over one another, entwined as though in some exalted act of yogic origami; the disembodiment, the torsion and the inflammation become tropes of war and love.' Tyeb's distillation of highly mythic religious themes of this story to a single frame, recast Mahisha as a sympathetic figure in a seductive embrace with flat colours and the planes all created their own story. Durga Mahishamardini Sotheby's Painted in 1993, Tyeb's Durga was executed during a time of rising communal tensions in Mumbai. In late 1992, a series of brutal city-wide riots greatly affected him. In this state of mind he created masterpieces. Unlike his earlier diagonal works which directly dealt with misery and suffering, the present work evinces a feeling of hope and optimism, transmuting thoughts into a sophisticated multi-layered commentary on the subject of human drama. Durga Mahisasura Mardini uses a passionate palette and poignant imagery resonant of this period in time. The two figures, the goddess Durga and Mahishasura, oscillate between abstraction and figuration. Falling Figures The falling figure, the goddess, the rickshaw-puller and the trussed bull are some of the recurring motifs in Tyeb's works. Many of his works are meditations on the human propensity for violence. The falling figure, making an appearance in many of his works, is a modernist symbol of universal suffering that he applied specifically to post-Partition in the image of the vertical falling figure, these works had their own enigmatic aura. Rickshaw 1984 This rickshaw image with figure is a nostalgia driven work, it reminds us of rickshaw-pullers that pepper the dusty roads and winding inner winding roads of Santiniketan and Kolkata to this day. Tyeb as artist-in-residence for two years in Santiniketan in 1983 saw the Figure on Rickshaw painted during this stay. Tyeb's invitation reinforced his preoccupation with human sufferings and the celebration and appreciation for life within. Christ TIFR A rare work is his Christ at TIFR created many moons is a passionate blue work that has a hint of melancholic meditation. In all his paintings we see the surfaces were usually matte sheets of flat colour. He applied cubist techniques of fragmentation to depictions of movement from ancient Indian sculptures. Layering iconographic elements into a sparse arrangement, his paintings have acquired acclaim for their sense of movement and profound humanism. Known as a careful and meticulous painter of grace and gravitas, he painted no more than around 300 works in his lifetime. In this 100th year of his birth his words about creating paintings with myths remain true and filled with integrity. ' You see with myths one cannot be in a hurry. They should settle into the memory so that you can stop and dwell on them at length.' Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Artists have an inner search in Voices
Critic and Curator Uma Nair has been writing for the past 35 years on art and culture She has written as critic for Times of India and Economic Times. She believes that art is a progressive sojourn. She learnt by looking at the best shows in Washington D.C. and New York. As author her most important books are Reverie with Raza and Meditations on Trees by Ompal Sansanwal. LESS ... MORE At the prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai, the Auditorium will unveil 26 Indian and International artists in a show by Bespoke Art Gallery that transcends the beauty of materials and mediums, metaphors and meanderings. Within the compositions of paintings ,drawings and sculptures these masters will reflect realities and transformations of everyday experiences and memories into artworks that engage our visual is an inner search in every artist in this show that celebrates composition. Sudip Roy's offering (Aarti ) The exhibition opens with a pair of watercolours on the city of Benares by Sudip Roy. His offering is a stunning surreal work that demonstrates how colour can be an integral part of an artist's language — how it can become a subject itself, or be deeply tied to memory, identity, culture, as well as a sacred ritual ' as old as history and older than time'. Through his distinctive practice, we gain insight into the uniqueness of his individual approach to watercolour and weaving surrealism into the spectacle, as well as discover surprising similarities between old masters and this Bengal master. Sudip captures the essence of elegance and the magic of the nightfall, showcasing the allure of cities in India as never before. His image tells stories of desire, and sadness , spirituality as well as intrigue, and power play in the intensities of cities leaving an indelible mark in our cultural history. Dashavataras Arpitha Reddy's Dashavtaras leads the show in a template that brings alive temple mural traditions from the sacred paintings in Guruvayur in Kerala. Arpitha has been creating works that create corollaries in the many avatars of Lord Vishnu for the past 10 years. The human figure in deities and details create the finesse here. Lord Krishna is among the best. Nilesh Vede Animus and Anima Nilesh Vede's Animus and Anima are a pair of human portraits taken from Carl Jung's famous essay that speaks of the masculine and feminine dualities. Nilesh is a succinct and supple creator of the human form. His men and women portraits are textured with the lexicon of the devanagari script which is the root of the Marathi alphabets. Moody and metaphoric this work is a stunning creation. Muzaffar Ali's horses Amorphous and elegant are Muzaffar Ali's pair of horse studies that emanate the moody reverie of contemplation in horses. Hoshruba is a panoramic canvas that echoes the beauty of equine creatures all over the world. Muzaffar says a horse should not be treated cruelly for human gains. His Raaz and Hoshruba belong to his two solo shows held in Delhi. Arzan moving ahead Arzan Khambhatta's Moving Ahead is a veritable testimony to time in the wake of man and his many leanings in a life in the urban city. Arzan an architect turned sculptor says his work is about the togetherness of men who work to accomplish the impossible. His work consists of a single portrait of man and a few images and the architectural nuances that frame the singular act of struggle and accomplishment. International artists This exhibition VOICES is also about celebrating creative expression amongst international artistic voices from the world like Spain,Australia, UK, and Uzbekistan, from the collection of Devin Gawarvala founder of Bespoke Art Gallery,Ahmedabad. Within the multiple mediums of works we see an unfolding of personalities and the power of compositional reach in terms of process and practice in artistic perception and perspective. Jesus Curia Bench At best a work of art could hinge on the representational ,the abstract, the figurative as well as non-figurative. While in its odyssey of creation it is at once unique and sufficient unto itself, it is the creative act that makes it palpable so that it generates its own life. Spanish mentor and sculptor Jesus Curia's small bench with two humans is a silent spectacle of sorts, it speaks to us about reflective reverie as well as the notes of contemplation when we sit on a garden chair or a bench. The design dynamics go back in time reminding us of paradisal gardens all over the world. Curia's Construction II is a work of depth and grace and gravitas. This unisexual human stands alone in an urban syntax with rusted ruins forming his lower body. Patina and perfection are the elixir of Curia who is a brilliant genius in the manner of humans he creates in myriad moods. Timur D'Vatz trio To look at three works of Guiness World Record Holder , Timur D'Vatz is to know that colour is king in the hands of this master of contemporary reality. His three works, Heraldry, Astrology, and The Hunt reflects that he has the hallmark of perfection in the way he demonstrates how colour can be an integral part of an artist's language — how it can become a subject itself, or be deeply tied to antiquity, to memory, to identity, culture, or nature. Bhajju Shyam's elephant Bhajju Shyam's elephant is a cry to humanity on the cruelty meted out to elephants at temples and other places and events. It heralds the need for making to do something about the extinction of species. Bhajju is a Gond artist who has created many elephants in the beauty of his own textural terrain. These images by 26 artists define their own space, their understanding of delineation, within their own perspectives of colour and composition. Within their own ideas of harmony and dimension their works of art have to be experienced by the audience that come to seek their own utopia within the space of this historic at the Jehangir Art Bespoke Art Gallery from Ahmedabad VOICES is a veritable debut that seeks to unveil artistic resonance. Images: Bespoke Art Gallery Ahmedabad Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Musee Mattise, and a painted museum-quality lehenga
Critic and Curator Uma Nair has been writing for the past 35 years on art and culture She has written as critic for Times of India and Economic Times. She believes that art is a progressive sojourn. She learnt by looking at the best shows in Washington D.C. and New York. As author her most important books are Reverie with Raza and Meditations on Trees by Ompal Sansanwal. LESS ... MORE Jayasri Burman, India's legendary woman artist who celebrates the fertility of the universe within, in her works, has over 40 years, created a vocabulary that journeys through various environments that encourage or require stillness. From fertile ponds and waters and riverine flows to many a lotus leafed oasis that captures depth and gravitas within feminine fervour, here is art born of mythos and Bengali literature. More than a garment Her painted lehenga for Radhika Ambani's aashirwad was more than a wonder and today it reaffirms the interdependence of man and nature. Aesthetic beauty, meaningfulness and multiple references all come together in this epic creation. Styled by the brilliant Abu and Sandeep, this lehenga proved to be more than a garment. Distilled in the prism of a man and woman union, it is the study of a universe that is filled with realms that resemble a sacred ritual, a time for pause in a world that has forgotten how to nurture pause, a balm in the frenzied pace of our urban and digital lives. Root memories It also reminds us of the great story of the vineyard of Aeolus. In the story it is said that the earth has memory, like the vine. For us humans, it is a question of synchronising this root memory and that of the soils . In addition, the vines must respect the earth. Within the tapestry of imagery created on this lehenga that was a fruit of 16 hours every day for 30 days, the entire ensemble echoes the story of root memories born through the crucible of experiences but harnessed through an odyssey of personal explorations of Prakriti (nature) that she considers her backdrop for all her narratives. Musee Matisse at Nice In her odyssey of the lehenga, Jayasri says she was in South of France when the call came through at the Matisse Museum in Nice. She was enchanted by the different works in the chapel related to the museum. It has important works linked with the Vence Chapel: 13 maquettes for chasubles and vestments, 3 maquettes for the chapel, 2 studies for La Jérusalem céleste stained glass window and a maquette for Les Abeilles, 2 large drawings representing St. Dominic. The large drawings of the priest St Dominic impressed Jayasri the most. She says it inspired her to do the same for this lehenga as she flew back to India. Jayasri's evolution over the years has reflected her love for Indian cultural heritage, and the legacy of our textiles, and she wanted to reproduce her artistic sojourn like Matisse on this precious Indian garment. Jayasri says, Radhika said she wanted to hang the lehenga on her walls someday, so the medium had to be a long-lasting choice. She got a canvas that would flow like a cloth and that's how it was decided it would be an Italian canvas. Light and landscape Light and landscapes in rich tones within the tenor of a fertile and vibrant universe is Jayasrii's leitmotif. Like Matisse, Jayasri has developed a distinctive style characterized by strong colours, simplified forms, and a focus on capturing the essence of the environment. Within her universe of flora and fauna, the little ducks the lotus blooms and botanical brilliance; we see the intensity of the play of light as well as nature's essence as her constant inspiration. Mounting Mood magenta This is not a fabular tale but a real story of a union of two individuals who are distinctive. Anant Ambani's love for animals is seen in the landscape so deftly created with charismatic contours and expression. Jayasri says she cut 12 canvas pieces, mounted them on a ply board, and began her painting after creating the background contours with her pens. Her palette moved into a moody magenta , a tone she had encountered in previous engagements with the family. Within the medley of mood and colour we note that Jayasri interweaves moments of emotion with artistic flair — all stamped with a hidden, magical signature of the feminine form. Lehenga as a relic This lehenga will be a relic in the pages of contemporary art and couture history in India as well as the world. It reflects Jayasri's search for subjects and thematic ideologies in the framing of feminine forms and nature. It reminds us of the connection between humans and Earth transitions that lead to inviting conservation and human intervention for preservation of Prakriti. Years ago when she came to Delhi in the 1990s at her first solo at Gallerie Ganesha, Jayasri said: ' In my life, creativity has been the most important thing because creativity to me is freedom.' Now so many years hence, a year after she finished creating this dramatic lehenga she says: ' Creativity is a beautiful way of living life because you can create your own style in a different manner. It is not only about art, it is about life, about people, about everything. Creativity for me is endless. Creativity allows me to appreciate different cultures, different hearts and learn from great Indian as well as European Masters. And it also allows me to have knowledge about the impact of my own work. And that's where my inspiration for painting comes from.' This delicately created lehenga in a subtle way states that nature is the glue that holds us together and unravels its secrets in the sifting of light from the mood edits of darkness and springing works that delight the mind's eye. Indeed when hung on a wall it will be more than a mere decorative backdrop. The composition of the vivid and surreal paintings drawn from Indian spirituality and life, with the emotional charge of the work, rendered within each meticulously created form is about matrimony and memories pressed between the pages of our minds. (IMAGES :JAYASRI BURMAN STUDIO) Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
