“Today painters do not have to go to a subject matter outside of themselves. Most modern painters work from a different source. They work from within.”
— Jackson Pollock
This famous quote from Jackson Pollock makes a lot of sense for two reasons. Both the reasons have two people who have been most important for the inception of the solo show in question. One is the artist Bhavna Kothari, the other is the supremely knowledgeable Akumal Ramachander. A man who discovered a gem in Shapinsky, who at the time was a contemporary to Jackson Pollock. Akumal has been a man who every artist has dreamed of working with.
But interestingly, the accidental meeting between Bhavna and Akumal was quite a story. For an artist who held her first show back in 1994, art was always a passion. She followed that up with a couple of shows in Time and Space and Gallery G way back in 2001 after getting busy with raising her kids, and opening her own restaurant. She was always keen on working with Akumal Ramachander but the meeting never took place. But as luck had it, they both met at the former’s restaurant accidentally, and then began a two-year whirlwind session where the artist collaborated with Akumal and came up with a phenomenal repertoire of work. Her oeuvre for the collection is a series of 30 oils on canvas abstract paintings in collaboration with Ramachander as the curator of the show.
In her work, with majorly subdued tones, she draws inspiration from Nature. Some of her works have a lot of similarity to Jackson Pollock and Lee Crassner. Most of her work resembles the artworks by artists of the famous movement: The Abstract Expressionist movement. The works are very meditative in nature and speak for themselves. Sharing her thoughts on her oeuvre, she says, “Well for me, it’s a gradual progression from art based on the the highly recognisable imagery and symbols to something more spiritual and meditative!”
We are surrounded by reality-24x7 news channels, social media, internet. Images from reality flooding our world. Abstraction is a relief from the “mere seeing “to feeling”!
Abstraction is all about going beyond known reality, and exploring the unknown. It’s about soul and spirit of a being.’’ The artist also feels that abstract art is not merely drawing random lines and splashing colour. Like any other high form of art, it demands certain restrain, discipline with a combination of balance and harmony. The art show shows a lot of promise and both Akumal and Bhavna have come together with an excellent array of artwork. The art show begins from October 27 to November 9 at Gallery Time and Space.
