The Space Between — Creative realms of abstraction “I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart,” this famous quote by Vincent van Gogh seems to reflect yoga guru Bharat Thakur’s life.
When I met Bharat for the first time, his confidence as an artist was similar to the legend. Before he paints, he closes his eyes, visualises, prays and begins with a passion of a sadhu. Bharat Thakur’s work represents a rich and versatile tapestry of expression, observed over a distance of time and space, an amalgamation of different phases of the artist’s life, brings to the fore consistent trajectories of thought and inspirations.
For a man who has lived several years in Himalayas, passion and perseverance come naturally to him. When he is painting, he is actually meditating, he respects colours, canvases, rollers, it’s like all of them have a tryst of love with him. There is pure artistry at work. Thakur’s works exude and touch the three major elements of any painting which are colour, texture and strokes. His style draws inspiration from newer influences stamped with his individualistic vocabulary. He works with the heart of a child. The way he blends multiple colours, uses his rollers, brushes, hands, feet and virtually anything under the sun to get that Midas touch is a sight to behold, also portraying his talent. Despite being self-taught, his confidence in the usage of textures is impeccable.
Thakur’s eloquent oeuvres follow several cycles of his artistic evolution, spanning over several years during which he has worked with several international artists, experimented and gotten into a wonderful relationship with his colours. Every work of his is complimented with a poem by him. As an artist his love for colours imbues spontaneity and sheer passion. I got a chance to speak to him about his art and he shared, “When I started off as an artist, I used to have immense love for figures, this formed an integral part of my repertoire. I sketched and sketched, had a room full of sketches upon my return from the Himalayas. Abstracts were never in my plans, until I chanced upon a painting where I was teaching my son and I felt abstracts were my calling. I connected with critics around the world, visited them. I kept experimenting and realised that I got to express my art through this form. To me art is worship. Texture is my strength, and I often try to play, underplay with several colours. I see myself being one of the best artists and I am sure I will achieve it.” With such talent and confidence, His colours will leave you in a state of awe and his art show will definitely take your breath away.
— His abstracts are on exhibition at Gallery Time and Space till
December 21.
— The writer is an art curator and art expert.
