Suneet Chopra

Indian art never espoused the formalism of the high modernised art that US art critic Clement Greenberg tried to introduce to Indians in the late 1960s. As a result, we never had to retrace our steps from its blind alley and declare it to be a post-modernist advance to save face.

This was largely because our Indian artists had a powerful narrative and folk tradition, which was very much alive and gave artists enough to think about. Among the leading artists of this sort, we had M F Husain, Ram Kinkar Baij, Benode Bihari Mukherji, Sailoz Mookerjea, K K Hebbar, K S Kulkarni, F N Souza and many others. They firmly opposed the formalist intervention that was being imposed on the world by the US and managed to save our artistic expression to reach the heights it is at today.

Among these artists, few have contributed as much as Husain in a public way, with gimmicks, happenings and events, seconded by a few quiet ones like Ganesh Pyne, who have just come into their own in the 1990s. And they provide excellent role models for young artists.

Among these we have Neeraj Bakshi, who is a young artist from Kashmir, who emerged from the Valley with sensitive images reminiscent of the writings of Camus and the sensitive drawing Pyne. His recent exhibition at the India Habitat Centre reflects a new change in his work, the influence of the colour and tale-telling quality of M F Husain. In fact, one could not have chosen a better synthesis in today’s contest.

Bakshi has chosen a very second path to carry forward contemporary Indian art into the 21st century. His drawings, Encounter and A Touch Of Vermilion, both show that he can give this path an original twist. So we can be sure he will not fall prey to choosing a path strong in references and reducing it to haunting images of what one has seen before. A part of it comes from his restlessness and will to travel. His African tour has borne fruit, let us hope his travels to other countries will be as rich a source for originality as it was before.