This time of year is the best time to assess the happenings on the art scene. Some of the best exhibitions are showing in the Capital at this time. There is the retrospective of A Ramachandran showing at the National Gallery of Modern Art, giving one an insight into an art that has drawn from the radical tradition of Santiniketan, the muralists of Kerala and the sweep of Chinese and Japanese art.
Then at Triveni Kala Sangam, we have the exhibition of the works of Paresh Maity, sponsored by the Galerie Ganesha, at Sridharani Gallery. Mr Maity, one of the most technically sound artists, reflects the powerful tradition of Bengal art, especially its masterly use of black that is restful and not oppressive. Of late he has blended this subtlety with bright Rajasthani colours and modernist forms, making his art an important element of our mainstream contemporary art. No wonder he sells well and commands prices well above many of his contemporaries.
Arpana Caur, the strongest protagonist of India?s miniature tradition on large canvases, has a powerful exhibition on the theme of Guru Nanak. There are a number of images, like The Weaver of Water, The Separator of Blood and Milk, The Transformation of A Human Being Through Baptism in Water, Ending the Oppression of the Sacred Thread, and Bidding Farewell to Friends (the death of Mardana) as part of the ongoing Journey of Life. This exhibition has sold exceedingly well and I am not surprised. The artist has an eye for the image and the style suits its presentation. But I for one prefer her contemporary image-making which has inspired a number of younger artists like Dharmendra Rathore and Sudarshan Shetty.
Mr Shetty, who in a show sponsored by Nature Morte at the Visual Arts Gallery has a bath-tub with scissors cutting water, a metaphor one often finds in Arpana?s work. In the same way, the plug and socket metaphor in Mr Rathore?s last exhibition reminded one of her figures Plugging In to nature. This spread of her images shows her impact growing in the art community, and so one expects her prices to go up in 2004.
A young and different artist appears to be emerging in Anuradha Nalapat, exhibiting at the Art Heritage gallery. She has gone beyond her concern with geometric space and evolved an explosion of elements in her latest work, Crazy Wisdom, She is an artist who is young and experimenting still, rather like Sudarshan Shetty whose enduring constructions in metal are far more promising than his earlier ephemeral work. The year-end tells us only that will survive which is meant to endure. And only that will endure that goes beyond me and affects my adversaries as well. And it is good to see people understanding that wisdom.