I MET the most erudite panel at IF.BE on fashion and art presented by Q Rising and Harpers Bazar. Lucky for me!
As it happened, this March 13 for Art Night Thursday, I visited 13 galleries. I almost entered the lift of Jhaveri Contemporary (not counted in the 13) but scampered to join friends who were heading to Anupa Mehta at deep south Colaba to catch up with the Bose of Art.
For “Voir Dire: In the Round” AM Contemporary Art has handpicked sculptures like the “Bunch of Bananas” exhibited last year at Art Mumbai. G Ravinder Reddy’s depiction of a “mundane object” carries the essence of what is part of us transformed into the spiritual. It is visible around and yet déjà vu to the unseeing eye. The formidable line-up includes the work of Sudarshan Shetty, Benitha Perciyal, Riyas Komu, Valay Shende, Chittrovanu Mazumdar and Arun Kumar HG, each uses a metaphor to relay their comment on time, environment and lead your observations.
Bose has used the metal dabba of yore, symbolic of Bombay’s rhythm and life support. It is reminiscent of its use in his installation in 1994. His use of Gandhiji’s lathi sculpted in bronze, one leaning precariously on a granite pillar and the other hung on the wall, conveys his interplay of materials with our changing times.
Last year, a visiting friend, Susan Zellerbach, and I rushed to Churchgate station at noon, to catch the fabled “dabbawalla.” We kept looking out for the huge rectangular wooden trays cramped with traditional metal dabba. We were told that they were long replaced by the branded variations in thermo bags. It seemed like an era had gone by as we watched the present avatar of dabba handling, as per the markings on them, to cycles to be ferried to their endpoint.
The representational works of these leading contemporary artists in India challenge our perception.
On till April 30

Lining the Art Belly
THANKFULLY, what did make the art crawl seamless was Experimenter Colaba, throwing open Julien Segard’s “Dancing at the Edge of Memory” the day before. The walls covered with black and white trees are etched in my memory for sure.
Thought-provoking depictions by artist Chetan Kurekar of the core of the changing landscape of his childhood playground due to unmindful mining. His work — At The Shore — has the artist’s face covered with black soot, as tears run down from his unblinking eyes in the region covered with destruction.
Fortified with a meaningful conversation with Salik Ansari at Ayesha’s Fulcrum, you bemoan the ravages inflicted on nature and fear its backlash. This is an art expression that reveals the fangs of rapid industrialization that is irreversible and the death knell of the elements of water, air and land.
On till April 19.

Basics First
I HAVE a pecking order in my walk and it has to do with bladder function. It helps in great measure to have the reliability and comfort of a well-appointed washroom. I have a mental list of such spaces that anticipate the need and they know who they are. Thanks, gallery peeps for the provision.

The Colours of Joy Walking
YOU have to hand it to Galerie ISA. Ashwin Thandani has Idris Khan and Annie Morris back for the third time with spectacular solos in each gallery. The playful palette: cadmium red, viridian green, cobalt turquoise, and the deepest soulful purple pigmented plaster balls stacked up by Morris match her Petal artworks. You just want to hug these vibrant truffle towers that tip at the edge of each ascending one. The happy totems actually ushered in the festival of colour, Holi on the 14th.
Khan’s sheets of musical notation layered with brush strokes use scores that I hold sacred, a layered metaphor so to speak. His vibrant “After the Setting Sun” brings in the glow of the golden hour. While each artist holds a distinct practice they tie together in their narrative, an unspoken, visible cohesion.

Human Spirit
GALLERIE Mirchandani & Steinrucke presents a total departure from the previous exhibitions of Kulpreet’s subject of stark reality. He did carry the message of humanity which is what gives us hope to drive us mindfully in our daily bread.
Christina Sucgang’s “Human Spirit” is her expression of positive energy. She lights up the gallery with ingenious strokes using her bright palette liberally. From the city of Chicago to the highly competitive art arena of New York, she brings a canvas of imaginative mastery using colour, structure and forms. The dreamy splurges of pink relegate your captive attention as her vibrant colours slide into the spotlight. In a blink, you discover pops of fresh elements that capture your attention. The artwork facing you, as you enter has her six-year-old daughter stencilled to her height. It captures the spontaneity and a happy feeling akin to street art.
On till May 3.

ART NEWS
KIRAN Nadar has brought Hussain home with a $13.6m (Rs119cr) bid at Christie’s at Rockefeller, NY creating history for Indian art. The 14 ft untitled painting “Gram Yatra” (1954) has 13 vignettes that depict rural India and establish the identity of the farmer in shaping post-independence India. The piece was acquired by Ukrainian-born Norway-based doctor, Leon Elias Volodarsky, who was in Delhi to establish a thoracic surgery training centre for the World Health Organisation. He bequeathed it to Oslo University Hospital in Norway in 1964 and it has finally returned to India. Welcome back Husainsahab, we value your richly deserved return!

Two for the Hammer
PUNDOLE’S catalogue promises a fine art sale for art connoisseurs and collectors. The team is abuzz with minute detailing. The silver collection of SaffronArt is one to watch out for and their upcoming auction is one blockbuster in the making.

Baroda in Bombay
“ECRITURE” translates into all that has to do with writing: “handwriting,” “script,” “style” or “entry.” Priyasri Patodia showcased the work of 18 artists associated with the Baroda School of Art at Kamalnayan Bajaj Gallery at Nariman Point. These artists have either been residents at Aq@ Priyasri — The Artist Studio, Baroda or have participated in our annual exhibitions at Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai. She seeks to provide a space where the viewer’s personal interpretation merges to render the outcome.

ANT Fervour
CHEMOULD Collab previewed “The Spaces Between” — a solo exhibition by Ahalya Rajendran is another of their winners. The elements in miniature style tell a heart-warming story in the beautiful space.
On till April 26.

Love Handles
I PLAN to revisit another cracker of creativity that tips the scale. Chatterjee & Lal’s exhibiting artist Gagan Singh’s “Love Handles” holds his unusual take on routine situations. I hope that writer and curator, Annapurna Garimella, will do a repeat. I see a funny bone that is refreshing and a black pen that has been busy.
On till April 19.
It is always best to soak in the collections on the quieter days that follow and relish that wonderful feeling of being in communion with the works.
Ditto with the welcoming Akara Modern. It carries unusual curations that are off the radar in the art world. On view till April are Anil Karanjia’s “Rebel Strokes and Silent Landscapes.”
Akara Contemporary’s “Acid Disco” is lively gastronomy tipped elegantly to want you to feast with your eyes. Jonathan Trayte’s practice brings out these photogenic totems of squashes in brilliant colours and cures you from any Covid pangs of mandatory food posts.
On till April 19..

Soul of Art
STRANGER & Sons is the sanctuary in the search for inclusive creativity. This space makes it possible for artists to unfold their myriad creations. For me, the objects around take me to times when we were not smitten by minimalistic trends and our lives were naturally such. Such care to preserve things that we yielded to make space for our shiny lives today. Including the washroom decorated with a trellis of leaves painted on the old tiles.

Instinct
I WAS touched by the purity of purpose of the artist unspoiled by time. His sheer tenacity was held together by the intuitive process of his guru Jagdish Swaminathan who said, “In my art, the ‘form’ does not originate with a point. That is there as if already in place.”
Anwar’s work is an inward expression of his truth. He doesn’t attempt to intervene in the flow of his creations. They are a pithy response to what is appropriately titled “Instinct.” All his works are hence “Untitled.”
A creator who values his artistic expression over words, the artworks carry forth a maturity of inner knowing. Like his mentor, he uses ancient symbols that recur in his combination of simple circular, triangular and square shapes. The geometric form magnanimously explores unchartered mediums of ceramic and repurposed wood marked by pyrographic technique. A line, on the left side of the work, in silver or gold foiling manifests as if to re-centre the thought and the moment.
You sense that for the artist reluctant to speak about his work at the preview of his exhibition at Tao Art Gallery, his art is his religion. The sacred thread strung diagonally in the sculptures assumes a spiritual context. A closer look reveals the illusion of his ceramics that resemble wood from a distance. They stem from his experience of cultural relics in museums.
Says the Director of the gallery Kalpana Shah, “His woodwork with its unique effects brings depth and his sculptures showcase huge forms that bring a never before seen scale. Sometimes in the modern world silence is underestimating a person but in Anwar’s case it leads to an unexpected eruption of emotions.”
urator Sanjana Shah sums up, “The artist creates that which creation itself makes him.” You feel a cosmic connection with the unassuming artist and leave with a lighter step.
On till April 18.

Giving Gieve his Due
ON art scan is the Gieve Patel tribute “A Show of Hands: In Memoriam” curated by Ranjit Hoskote at JNAF gallery at the museum. More about it soon! Till then happy art immersion.