HYDERABAD:The ongoing exhibition Spirit and Matter at Shrishti Art Gallery is a neat punctuation which initiates a discourse on the spiritual aspect of art. To be aligned with the exhibition’s curatorial objective it would be helpful to abide by the text written by art historian, Koeli Mukherjee: “… Creativity is the act of bringing a new form of expression into existence, it moves everyone beyond themselves in a similar way spirituality moves us.”
This exhibition marks the 16th anniversary of the gallery and at the same time, it celebrated March for women by inviting seven women artists: Ketaki Pimpalkhare, Parul Thacker, Parvathi Nayar, Seema Kohli, Shaila Nambiar, Shruti Mahajan and Shuchi Mehta. Interestingly, besides Shaila Nambiar, all the submissions are abstracts and are narratives of the ethereal kind. For instance, the oil on canvas by Ketaki Pimpalkhare are outstandingly composed and painted. Abstract forms in pink, blues and greens appear like wreaths floating in the water. Seema Kohli ‘s acrylic and ink on canvas with 24-carat gold and silver leaf titled Jala (Water) provides similar impressions.
While seeking the sublime she depends on the sacredness reckoning the multiple connotations of water. Says she: “I painted water as the most elementary form of creation from which through combinations and permutations the universe and its species were derived.”
Another artist who explores the sublime with the majesty of the matter is Parul Thacker. Her mixed media works “A thousand voices in a mutated vast I /II, executed in 24-carat gold leaf, gold dust, camphor soot, paper and translucent thread applies resplendent matter to evoke the spirit. Here too the artist applies matter to explain the alchemy which provides an outlet to seek infinity. Says the artist: “The works are a representative process of alchemy like a map viewed from a great distance.“
Shaila Nambiar’s safety pin securely holding a sack appears like a naval or spiral holing the meaning of life together. The artist seems to portray the fundamental form of life in a symbolic work which takes the flight from the being to a higher consciousness.Her statement reads “...Deep down, you are more than a being, a consciousness, constantly seeking a connection inwards as well as outwards. Wanting, struggling to be one with yourself.”
The exhibition is on till April 17